I have been quite brave with dresses since getting Tomas but I am always checking and patting that area. I suppose I feel blessed with having an ” outie” for a stoma in that my peristomal skin is reasonably good, but the downside is that you can see the telltale lump under my clothes ( or maybe I can but others can’t, but I think they can)
There are many people asking what they can wear that is not just baggy trousers and saggy tops, so I am going to find out. I already have a page about the subject  HOW TO FEEL GOOD IN CLOTHES
But this is how I feel, and not necessarily how everyone feels. I now think I need to look into this subject a bit more. Many ostomates feel self conscious when going out for a posh night out in their glad rags, and we check ourselves in the mirror at every angle, but of course we all know that our silhouette can change during the night, so a flimsy wispy dress is a no no for many but the very daring.
There are some wonderful lingerie and underwear now for ostomates, some are very well known now and do well, for example VANILLA BLUSHÂ
(I have noticed that Vanilla Flush do a lovely lounge wear bottoms and I am a bit tempted to get them, and they are also available for men)
But I would love to see more clothing lines. I know that a lot of high street clothing can be worn by us but it would be nice to see things such as body con dresses and jumpsuits that are made with us in mind. Most jumpsuits show the outline of the bag or if you wear a band, you can see that through the material. The materiel needs to be thicker but still lightweight . Same for tight ish dresses. I wear high waisted jeans that are as soft as possible but must admit that the band can still drag my bag downwards, which is uncomfortable and leads to itching. I usually end up with leggings because they are the most comfortable thing I own. Crossover tops/ dresses, belts and patterns all help to hide lumps and bumps that we don’t want on show.
The good news is that the ideas are starting. I went to the Purple Wings charity ball and conference this year and there was a new product there, that was exciting.
I AM DENIMÂ is the new jean for ostomates. They are low cut but have a waistband that hides everything else, wonderful. Just the fact that there are people out there that care and are willing to design and try warms my heart. They are dearer that the average pair of jeans but the way they are made and the added benefits mean that the production costs , I expect, are more.
But that can’t be it can it? well I have been scanning the world wide web and found some fairly obscure companies that seem to think we all want high waisted elastic polyester trousers and old fashioned knitted tops, or underwear ( not knitted underwear ) and we are all over 70yrs old ,hmmmm it all seems like hard work. As a rule I think we can wear most things but I have definitely tried on a few things and been very disappointed. Not sure what the answer is, just to find what works for us all I suppose. We all assume our bags can be seen, but in reality is it just our insecurities ?
We need more designers so if any of the clothing companies are reading this, you have a niche market waiting…………….
If anyone has any useful information regarding clothing, not necessarily made for ostomates, but maybe an item of clothing that has made them feel fabulous, let me know and I will add it to my page. Does it camouflage the outline? Is it comfortable? Is it patterned or plain?
I am 70 with a stoma !! But I was in my 30’s when my ileo arrived so have been wearing clothes with a stoma for as long as clothes without a stoma. I love fashion and tonight will be wearing a leopard print skirt with a black top when I go out to play Bridge. The skirt looks like a straight mid calf skirt – but expands because it has tiny invisible pleats. Have learned to wear enough underwear to hide and protect the stoma and bag – plus clothes that are not too tight, thin or plain coloured. You can wear fitted outfits. Wore a pale pink heavy lace outfit when I was Mother of The Bride, a pale blue silk patterened outfit as MotGroom, big enough knickers to keep bag enclosed but with room for full expansion. I always wear gorgeous shoes, great jewellery, have my hair done, earring, makeup all the time……. and forget the stoma. I have never believed we need special clothes – just clever shopping.
Thank you so much for your comments, it’s great to hear that you dress well no matter what x
Can I just add here that we are probably all going to be self conscious with an ostomy – but then so is everyone else in the world. Checking their appearance and being aware of fat hips, big bum, wobbly arms etc etc is what everyone does whether they have a stoma or not. I think we all do the bag pat – I’ve noticed a friend do it to her urostomy – but we have no choice because the bag will fill with no reminder to us that it is about to burst. Men have more of an issue because they have no hips to hang their trousers from – and would maybe like a clump of velcro on their back to hold their trousers up.
I see what you mean, I suppose we all have appearance issues