CLOTHING HELP

[hastings]

After a lifetime of tucking my shirt in (nearly 85, short sleeve golf-type in the summer, long sleeved button downs when it gets cooler), I'm finding that old habits don't die easily, but I think the time has come to wear my pouch outside my trousers. My stoma is about even with my belt and I need to have a shirt that is cosmetically acceptable for one of my age. Unfortunately I have had a mild stroke and no longer drive, so I am reduced to online shopping. I don't know where to start. Any suggestions would be welcome.

[SeaQuest]

Hastings, I spent 17 years of my life working in retail and always assumed that items such as clothing wouldn't easily migrate to being bought online. However, there are now many online retailers, and most offer generous returns policies. I still much prefer to shop locally; however, I use sites such as Amazon for purchases ranging from clothing to computers to farmhouse sinks. Clothing can be returned within 30 days for a full refund, and you can enter search criteria of whatever brands you are familiar. They have over 33 million different SKU's for clothing/shoes/jewelry and over 350 million total SKU's. Their search fields allow you to sort your results allowing you to see the items and how they look untucked.

I don't work for Amazon.....and largely due to them and mismanagement by traditional retailers, I now work in a totally different market, but in the absence of knowing where you are located, I am comfortable recommending them to you. You can even help charities (chosen by you) by placing smile at the beginning of the website (https://smile.amazon.com). This will direct .5% of your purchase price to your chosen charity.

I hope this helps!

SeaQuest

[AlexT]

I just wear an ostomy wrap under any shirt I want to wear and not tuck in. No need to buy specific clothing if you wear a wrap.

[Mysticobra]

I was a tucker too.
And after using steroids for so long (this relates) my arm skin is like paper mache.
So i needed a shirt that has long sleeves and does not tuck.
Under armour heat gear long sleeve. I'm skinny. Don't like tight shirts. So i get them 3 times large. They are perfect. Comfortable. It works for me.
Just a suggestion. They are not expensive.
Other options are are Untuckit shirts. Shirts with buttons madento be un tucked.
Those are expensive.
Richard

[Jimbob]

I get my shirts at a Big and tall store, they are generally longer and fit better than the ones from a regular store.

[AlexT]

You could always go to Duluth Trading and get their long tail line of shirts, plenty long to tuck in.

[Dijenga]

Only 64, but can definitely relate to Hastings dilemma. Always have been a tucker of the shirt tail into my trousers. Ileostomy has made that impossible. I remember the doctor asking where I wore my belt before surgery . . . and he dead centered my ileostomy right there.

What I have resorted to is suspenders. I now wear two shirts everywhere. T-shirt (under shirt) goes inside trousers,then suspenders, then a button up shirt over suspenders. Unfortunately, it has to be left untucked. Guess I'll have to live with it that way for the rest of my life, but it really sucks. it makes me feel like a slob having to dress that way - don't expect that many others do though because the "fashionable" thing is to wear your shirt outside your pants.

An alternative for some may be to wear their pants high above the waist nearly to the chest . . . then you would be able to tuck, but in my opinion that looks even worse.

I used to appear in Federal Court for my employer several times each year. If I showed up with my pants pulled up to my chest (think of "Steve Urkell") or with an untucked shirt it definitely would draw negative attention (which you do not want when you're walking a legal tightrope in the first place).

[steiconi]

Could a vest help with this?
Cut a slit in your shirt tail so you can tuck in around the pouch, then add a long vest to hide the pouch.

[AlexT]

It could help. I’m a duck hunter so my base layer shirt(one against my skin to wick sweat away) I cut a hole in it to go around my bag/stoma area so I could tuck it in. Works great. My other heavier insulated shirts go over that just like normal.

[steiconi]

Vest suggestion...maybe you could have a pouch pocket sewn into the vest. Tuck in modified shirt, add vest, slip pouch into pocket.

[ot dave]

I adjust my clothing choices only due to the presence of my rather obvious hernia. If I didn't have my hernia, then I would wear my clothes as I wished. I irrigate, so having some control of output is helpful in this area of ostomy life. As a colostomate, irrigation could be an option that would allow you to tuck in your shirts without the anxiety of pancaking as there is usually a days worth of output freedom....of course every GI system is different. But, it works out well for me.

It could help. I’m a duck hunter so my base layer shirt(one against my skin to wick sweat away) I cut a hole in it to go around my bag/stoma area so I could tuck it in. Works great. My other heavier insulated shirts go over that just like normal.

As a frequent deer and duck hunter, the irrigation is by far the best thing for me when I am hunting. It allows me to have some control of the output that doesn't interfere with my time in the blind or deer stand. Again, wearing my clothing without modifications.

I will add, that sweater vests and zippered vests are very useful during times when I want shirts tucked in... I wear them to church and just about anytime an event calls for more than casual clothing.
Hope that helps.

David