Nancy Edwards had reached a point of desperation.
She had been eager to lose weight. Over the years, she had tried Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig food plans and a number of fad diets, hoping to shed a few pounds. But nothing worked until she started taking the GLP-1 her doctor prescribed.
The results were almost immediate. Within a year’s time, she lost 80 pounds.
Edwards, 52, an elementary-school teacher in Rome, Ga., expected to fit into an old pair of jeans she kept in the back of her closet. Eventually, even her tightest-fitting denim began to hang loosely on her body.
Within six months, Edwards realized she had to replace not only tops and dresses, but also undergarments and shoes because, she said, “I have nothing.”
This took her by surprise, as it did the dozens of other GLP-1 users with whom The New York Times spoke. They hadn’t anticipated needing a whole new wardrobe for their transformed bodies.
For many people, clothes reflect an aspect of their identities. For Edwards, shopping for new clothes was, in a way, an opportunity to discover how she wanted to present who she wanted to become.
“I started noticing that, Oh, I don’t really like all of those colorful, floofy dresses with big puffy sleeves,” she said. “Those were just the ones that fit me.”
The Pain of Shopping
When Melissa Fogg, 44, was in middle school, her parents used to drive two hours to the nearest Gap from their home in Amarillo, Texas, so she could pick out her own outfits.
Fogg liked to stay on trend, but she did not enjoy shopping, especially when she discovered she had to buy clothes that were “the same size as my mom’s,” she said, while her peers were still shopping in the children’s department.
These days, Fogg, a medical social worker in Dallas, is using a GLP-1. Buying clothes feels less emotionally fraught now, she said, because she is having a much easier time finding what she wants to wear in her size, like cutoff shorts and fitted tank tops.
“Sometimes, I catch myself wanting to dress younger — maybe because I didn’t have that opportunity to dress that way when I was younger,” Fogg said.
Like Fogg, Isabella, who declined to give her full name in order to protect her privacy, used to find shopping to be an “embarrassing” experience, especially when she would have to sift through a stack of shirts before finding her size at the very bottom. And that’s when the stores actually carried her size. Some retailers, like Aritzia, don’t have mirrors in their dressing rooms, so she would have to step into a communal area to assess the fit.
Since losing weight, though, Isabella, a 25-year-old doctoral student in New York City, has noticed that the reception from sales associates has become warmer and “much more enthusiastic.”
Complete Makeover
The fashion industry historically has catered to customers from sizes 0 to 12, offering them the latest trends and a full range of silhouettes while overlooking the average-size American woman, who wears a 16.
But for those taking GLP-1s, losing weight may grant them access to wardrobe options they didn’t have before. And some see it as an opportunity to reimagine or even discover their sense of style. For many, this might be the first time they feel they are being seen.
Dressing up was always a priority for Brandi Ascione, 50, a marketing executive in the Hudson Valley of New York who felt she always had to look her best because she didn’t want people to think she didn’t take good care of herself.
“I always overcompensated,” she said. Since losing weight, Ascione has found that she no longer has to “be one step ahead of everyone.”
Before using a GLP-1, Steven Zeffert, a business administrator in Houston, was happy to fade into the background. His style leaned conservative, and he often opted for baggy jeans, button-down shirts and the occasional sport coat. Today, Zeffert, 75, owns polo shirts in myriad colors and form-fitting jeans. He’s even wearing cologne, and he just bought a convertible.
“I’m not as concerned about somebody noticing me now,” he said.
Dominic Cesario’s wardrobe has also become more colorful since losing weight. An I.T. professional in Chicago, Cesario, 48, typically wore dark colors, telling friends he did so because he didn’t “have to think about it.” The reality, however, was that there were few other options, he said.
“I’ve noticed that I’ve been opting for brighter, bolder colors,” he said, adding that his styling choices now reflect his personality, which is not “exuberant, but, you know, I’m not a wallflower.”
Others, like Heidi Rackley, needed some help figuring out how to dress. Rackley, 70, a retired actuary in Seattle, was overwhelmed by the abundance of choices and enlisted a stylist and personal shopper at a department store. The experience gave her the confidence to try on a pair of wide-leg pants and barrel jeans.
“It just opened my eyes to looking at myself differently,” she said.
The Cost of Retail Therapy
Today, roughly $1 in every $4 spent on apparel comes from a household with a GLP-1 user, according to Kristen Classi-Zummo, a retail industry analyst at Circana.
“This is not a fringe consumer,” Classi-Zummo said.
But with the rising costs because of inflation, buying new clothes can put a significant strain on people’s budgets.
“That’s been a kind of rude awakening,” said Marty McGowan, 68, a retiree in Kernersville, N.C. “It’s been interesting, being on a fixed retirement income. When my wife and I were both working, we wouldn’t think too much about going out and, you know, spending a little bit of money on clothes.”
So McGowan decided against shopping for one-to-one replacements for his favorite pieces and instead sought out specific items he could mix and match.
Some GLP-1 users, like Edwards, have turned to buy-and-trade Facebook groups. There, Edwards has sold her older apparel and found her favorite brands, like Tuckernuck and J.Crew, to buy at a discount. Others are shopping at secondhand or fast-fashion stores while they are in between sizes.
But for others, weight loss has been an opportunity to invest in more expensive clothing and make up for lost time.
“I had the money to, you know, purchase things at the designer stores, but they did not carry my size, so it was very clear that was not for me,” said Katie Den Bleyker, 44, a lawyer in Los Angeles. Now she wears Chanel to work.
Safety Net
Doing a wardrobe purge can feel cathartic, like shedding a part of yourself. Some GLP-1 users, like Colleen Kwiatkowski, 64, a retired nurse in Lodi, Calif., were happy to step into a new phase of life.
“I got rid of everything,” she said, referring to her “frumpy,” dark-colored clothes. “I don’t want to look at it anymore.”
Kwiatkowski has made room for the brighter dresses and tops she has recently purchased. “This is more of my personality,” she added. “I’m very social. I’m very outgoing.”
Other people taking weight loss drugs are hanging on to their old wardrobes in case their weight fluctuates. Claire, 27, who declined to give her full name in order to protect her privacy, has lost the weight she put on during the Covid pandemic. But she purged the clothes she wore before her weight gain, which she regrets because those items would fit her now.
Having learned her lesson, Claire is keeping a bag full of jeans that were not easy to find in her measurements when she was in a bigger body.
Jordyn Rosenthal has no qualms about keeping clothes that no longer fit her.
“They represent something to you,” said Rosenthal, 34, who works at a nonprofit in New York City. “They hold memories. Clothes, you know, remind us who we are.”
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