Larry, I bet she makes sure your socks match, too.
kikr,
Your lady may be interested in the following observations I've made in six years of carrying underneath regular women's clothing:
Prints hide better than solids.
Dark colors hide better than light ones. Kind of like when you are figuring out if you need a slip under your dress, if you wear a light color you will have to make sure the gun doesn't show in various types of lighting. If the gun doesn't hide well in all lights, but the blouse works well otherwise, consider wearing an undershirt with the gun underneath it.
Fabric with some body to it hides better than flimsy, wispy stuff. If you have a thin blouse you'd like to wear, you can add body to it by ironing it with starch and it really helps.
There is no rule that says concealed carry clothes have to be ugly! Pretty clothes conceal a gun just as well as ugly ones.
To experiment with styles on the cheap, take a trip to the local Goodwill store or do the flea market/garage sale thing. The big bonus is that you can simply purchase a wide variety of clothes to experiment with in the privacy of your own bedroom. Once you've found some basic clothes shapes that work reasonably well at hiding a gun on your body, your trips to the full-price retail outlets will go a lot more smoothly because you'll eliminate most of the guesswork before you get into the dressing room.
Dressing room tip: if possible, snag the handicapped stall. If someone in a wheelchair comes along, you can surrender it. But in the meanwhile, the plus is that there's almost always a bench to put your stuff on so you won't have to put it on the floor or balance your trousers and holster precariously hanging from a hook. The other plus is that handicapped dressing room stalls are a little bigger, so you can get at least a
little distance from the mirror without leaving the stall. If you cannot snag a handicapped stall for some reason, grab the one at the very end of the hallway -- less traffic means more secure for your stuff, and you can probably step into the hallway to check mirrors there without risking your stuff.
Oh, yeah. Don't take your gun out of its holster in public unless you're planning to shoot someone. If you need to try on pants, pull the
holstered gun off your belt, set it on the bench, take your pants and belt off, pull on the new pants, then pick up your belt and the
holstered gun and check how they fit with the new pants. Whenever I set down the holstered gun, I like to drop a piece of clothing on top of it immediately, just to reduce the risk of someone spotting it.
Jeans. Forget buying a larger size. Instead, head over to the guys' department and snag jeans there. Guys' jeans are designed to be bigger in the waist and proportionately narrower in the rear than women's jeans. That'll give you extra waist room without creating the baggy-butt look so dreaded by fashion mavens.
Another jeans tip. If you can find jeans with stretchy fibers in them (
not those 80's look "stretch jeans" with the nasty elastic waistband! Just regular jeans which have stretch fibers), you'll be more comfy if you carry IWB. Yeah, okay, combine the two jeans tips I've just given you and you'll probably end up having to shop in the grandpapa department. So? Fill 'em out well enough, and no one will ever know.
You will probably want to buy blouses one size up from your usual, at least until you find where your limits are.
If you're petite, consider going back to the regular sizes for blouses, because the slightly-longer lengths work better. Similarly, if you like man-styled oxfords, remember the actual men's ones have a little more length, and may suit your purposes better.
Sweaters work very well for concealed carry, but they have to be the comfy-cozy-bulky type, rather than the thin clingy type. If you're addicted to the thin clingy type, consider wearing an ankle holster instead of a belt holster.
Cardigans are great, shrug sets not so great. But you can make a shrug set work if you own a belly band and have a generally straight posture.
Belly bands work great for skirts, too. Any blouse that works well for concealment with jeans will usually work just as well (or better) with a skirt and a belly band positioned near where the gun normally rides when it's on the belt.
A skirt with wide belt loops is worth its weight in gold. It's worth scouring the stores until you find one or a dozen that will work for you.
Probably more I could say, but that ought to get you started. Best of luck!
pax
