15 May 2021

Before and After: The Return of a Favourite Shirt

I found a shirt in my closet, something that hasn't fit in years -- decades. In all the many closet purgings I've done, I always held on to this shirt. 

I bought it at an outdoor music festival, a great indulgence at the time, but I loved it and splurged. It's hand-dyed batik, and no matter how many times I wore it, it always looked new. Even though it hasn't fit since the late 90s, I never had the heart to get rid of it. 

Yesterday I had to travel a little for work -- a wonderful treat in this almost-maybe-post-pandemic time. I wanted to wear something special, but all my dressy clothes are way too big. So I tried on this shirt. And it fit. 

This led me to dig out my "before" pics. I took these in my hotel room the night before my surgery.

October 25, 2020



May 14, 2021




I didn't have this surgery to change my appearance. If being overweight was only about lookism, I would have stayed heavy forever. I did this for my health. But the side benefit of feeling better about how I look is really nice!

I've also been working on being less photo-phobic. This is not really a function of my weight or size. I'm just extremely camera-shy and can't stand to see photos of myself. Over the last few years, I've been working on being more relaxed about it. So posting these photos here is A Big Thing. 

4 comments:

  1. I know the photo is A Big Deal. Happy for you that you're stretching in this area. Love the hair!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You look wonderful! I know that was not your reason for doing this, but I think you should know anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you both! Really really appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You look amazing! How exciting to get back into your favourite shirt! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are welcome, as long as they're not sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or otherwise bigoted. Comments solely for the purpose of re-directing traffic or commercial sales will not be posted.