Dina Pattelli can’t weight to wow ’em this fall.
Since 2022, the 43-year-old Staten Islander shrank from a Size 18 in jeans at 300 pounds — to a slimmer Size 8, thanks to a combination of trendy weight loss meds.
But with her body regularly changing, the married mom of two reports struggling to find flattering ‘fits.
“I’m so happy I’ve lost weight,” Pattelli, currently at a healthy 160 pounds, told The Post. “But I constantly have to buy new wardrobes.
“I spend all this money on cute clothes, and half of the stuff doesn’t fit because my body changes so much. It’s been tough,” she confessed.
Pattelli found herself in the prime predicament after using the anti-obesity pill Contrave, as well as Mounjaro, a Type 2 diabetes injectable, to drop 140 pounds.
Pattelli’s husband, Carl, 42, nixed over half that while on the shots.
Finding fashions to flaunt new physiques is a voguish — and often daunting — problem for people like the Pattellis, who have experienced recent and relatively rapid weight loss.
Darkening the doorways of those once-dreaded dressing rooms, skimming sales racks or even sweeping one’s own closet is now a new kind of challenge for many of the estimated 15.5 million Americans on Ozempic, Wegovy and their fat-zapping kin.
In fact, weight loss drug users online have joked that the jabs should come with a different kind of “warning.”
Cyber kidders say the little labels should notify patients that sizing troubles are a likely side-effect of the pharmaceuticals — one of the less unsavory consequences (unlike erectile dysfunction or, in rare cases, death).
However, some unamused users say clothes shopping has become even more “frustrating” since slimming, because they haven’t yet been able to figure out their “true size.”
Turner Allen, a personal stylist in NYC, often helps newly trim clients overcome the pangs of fast fat loss — with a splash of pizzazz.
“There’s a huge psychological component around weight loss combined with personal style,” Allen told The Post.
“Many times [my clients] have some kind of mental hang-ups about what they think they look like versus what they actually look like now,” said the pro. “When you lose a lot of weight, it takes time for your brain to kind of catch up with what your body now looks like.”
Recent research from the University of Padova in Italy backs up Allen’s anecdotal findings — experts discovered that formerly obese people who’ve shed significant heft through medical intervention tend to be “more psychologically burdened and have more difficulties in judging their bodies” than their overweight peers.
“Their mental body representations seem not to be linked to their own BMI,” said study authors.
So, in an effort to help clients fashionably align body and brain, Allen suggested the newly petite explore bold styles and look-at-me colors.
“They’re able to take up space in a confident way,” said the glam guru, describing the uplifting effects of his tutelage. “They don’t feel like they need to hide anymore.”
That’s music to the ears of suddenly svelte Mariah Hopkins.
The 32-year-old told The Post she’s more than ready to break out of her shell this season — if she can find clothes that fit.
Between February and July, the married mom of four, who birthed her babies back-to-back over the past decade, melted away 50 pounds using a compounded semaglutide — the active ingredient in GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
The makeup marketer now maintains a weight of 125 pounds, a far cry from the 175 she weighed at the top of the year, and she’s eager to strut her stuff in Size 2 low-rise jeans.
“I have to overhaul my entire closet,” the newly unburdened Utahn shared. “Nothing fits. I even have to buy new underwear.”
“This medication is expensive,” added the millennial, who’s ditching her baggy shirts and sweats for cropped sweaters, sexy skirts and cute cardigans this season. “But the most expensive part of losing weight is buying new clothes.”
And although picking up pieces in the “Juniors” departments of Target, Walmart and online shops like Shein may have set her back roughly $1,500, Hopkins says it feels better to spend — than to feel uncomfortable in her own skin.
Weight loss coach Amy Kane, who herself recently offloaded 160 large on Mounjaro, is in agreement.
But to avoid breaking the bank on new garb, and to help curb any “well, what fits?” confusion, the 34-year-old said she advises weight loss warriors to regularly treat themselves to cutesy togs throughout their journeys.
“Invest in your health by buying yourself a dress or a pair of jeans that make you feel good,” insisted Kane, a married mom of three from Chicago. “That’s part of the weight loss process and feeling good in your new body.”
But since dropping from a dress Size 28 to a Size 6 over the last 23 months, the brunette, like her peers, finds herself struggling to get the fits just right.
“I have had a very hard time knowing how I look,” Kane confessed.
Throughout her transition, she said, she’s purchased clothes “three sizes too big” due to uncertainties about her new frame.
“But I’ve always loved fashion, and I’m happier now that I can go into any store and find great options for my body,” she explained, revealing that she’d recently snagged some leather pants — paired with calf-clinging fall boots.
“Shopping can still be a little triggering,” she admitted. “But now, it’s way less anxiety-inducing.”
