Winter Clothes for Ostomy Bag Wearers - Need Fashion Tips!

So I am starting to shop for winter clothes, and since I have been able to wear a bag it hasn't been winter (I only have been able to wear a bag on my ostomy since March). The issue I am running into, that never occurred to me before, is sweatshirts. I used to wear sweatshirts all the time. But the ones I own stop where sweatshirts normally do, at the waist. So that will not cover my bag. I could wear a long t-shirt under the sweatshirt but I don't want to look like a ragamuffin. Or a gang banger. So has anyone got any suggestion on winter clothes? During the spring and summer I have been wearing t-shirts and they are not short, they cover my bag. I love to wear hoodies, please don't tell me I can't wear them anymore? My good ISU hoodie (the college I graduated from) is too short to cover my bag, it stops around the top of my pants. What do I do? Also does this mean I can never wear a tucked-in shirt? I don't wear tight clothes or I guess they are called stealth belts? The ones that wrap around your stomach and bag. I think they would put too much pressure on my bag which has a tendency to fill up in the blink of an eye at times. If I wore something that made the bag flat against my body I think it would leak or else explode.

Fashion help here please? I don't want to waste my money on things I cannot wear.

Lee

Hi there,

So, a couple of different things. There are bag covers you can get with cute prints. If the bag is longer than something you wear, you can have a cute bag cover. Another option is the stealth belt, but if you can't wear that, there are other wraps that you can get. They have a pocket on the inside where your bag sits, which is nice when it starts to fill up and helps take the heaviness off the tummy. The website is called Ostomy Secrets. I have one and I like it a lot. There are other brands as well. I haven't tried them, but you can google ostomy wraps and take your pick. And no, you don't have to stop wearing sweatshirts. I have even worn a snug-fitted sweater and all was good.

I feel your angst. I have a protruding parastomal hernia. Occasionally I will wear a hernia belt but I feel it makes my stoma protrude even more and it is uncomfortable. Fortunately skinny tights and jeans are still available (but disappearing due to bell bottoms return). The tight fitting pants feel great and tend to support my hernia. On the downside, tight pants tend to accentuate the negative - kind of a good news bad news scenario. That's the bad news, however, the good news is currently they are still selling long tunic type tops that cover a world of sins. This is my wardrobe now. I have even gone so far as to look at maternity tops. Keep smilin' jb

Have a shop around online, you should find them all available in longer lengths.

I'm in the UK, so it won't be any help telling you where I get mine from, but I wear them all.

I am thinking about getting a tall-sized hoodie. Sure, it won't look as good on me as a regular hoodie, but it would cover my bag. I just don't want to make it look like I am wearing a hoodie dress.

Lee

Avoiding Ostomy Bag Leaking | Managing Ostomy Leaks with LeeAnne Hayden

Just letting your bag hang with no support, especially with any amount of output in it, will cause more leak issues than wearing a belt or wrap. If you don't like the belts, buy the wrap that Beth mentioned from Ostomysecrets, it puts a little pressure on your bag while it sits inside the pouch but in no way will it interfere with output. I wear one daily and always wear shirts (except my famous Scooby shirt that's kinda long), hoodies that stop at the waist. I almost never tuck my bag into my pants, shorts, whatever. Just put a wrap on and it holds/conceals your bag right at your waistline.

Not sure what to do about a hoodie, but I have seen tunic length sweatshirts and tees.

Hi, I wear my pouch under my clothes and always look for both summer and winter clothes that are long. Amazon has great stylish tops for women. Wearing dark colors is also very helpful in hiding a filling up pouch.

I hear you; I'm all hoodies and jeans myself, and if I could pivot to high-waisted jeans, you can pivot to a longer hoodie! Just Google "long hoodie"; they come in a bunch of different lengths. Some certainly look like dresses, but there are also some that just hit your hips...I think someone mentioned tunic-length...which also, hooded tunics might be an alternative if you don't prefer zip-ups.