Female gun ownership and the rise of fashionable "carrywear"

[SewTexas]

soooo, all of her shirts are tucked? wow, that's highly unusual for a woman today. Nothing against your lady's style choices, I'm very pro- personal style choices, just sort of pondering "out loud" I have a clip on style holster that I love, but I don't think they make it so that you can tuck in also. hmmmm

I assume you were asking me.... no, actually she wears her shirts untucked most of the time, it’s just that her shirts are fairly form-fitting (is that the right fashion term?) and too narrow waisted to be useful for concealed carry. Add that to the fact that she almost never wears a belt because most of her pants lack belt loops; so there’s nothing there to support the weight of a gun even if she were so inclined. In any case, I conceded a long time ago that her choices are hers, and I can’t win that argument - even though I know I am right from both a tactical and a gun safety point of view. Harmony in my home is more important to me than "winning".

ok, something you said made me think she was wearing the shirts tucked. Kosiak leather makes a holster with a clip that I use for my lcp, don't where a belt either, I know, it works on my jeans perfectly. LCPs are light, I can wear it on the short leggings I made to wear under dresses. But....I often will still put it in my purse, because I like to wear leggings.

[Lisa517]

Wait, concealed carry leggings?? How is that even possible, when it's so hard to even find decent leggings with pockets?

Personally, I'm looking to change bag styles entirely once I get my license, and I'm thinking about a cross-body bag with a motor-cycle style leg strap. There are several such bags on Amazon, but few that seem to be designed for concealed carry. Any know of any? Alternatively, what can y'all tell me about installing a holster in a "regular' bag? Hoping for something easy to install; I knit, crochet, and spin, but I'm lousy with a sewing machine!

[Jusme]

Wait, concealed carry leggings?? How is that even possible, when it's so hard to even find decent leggings with pockets?

Personally, I'm looking to change bag styles entirely once I get my license, and I'm thinking about a cross-body bag with a motor-cycle style leg strap. There are several such bags on Amazon, but few that seem to be designed for concealed carry. Any know of any? Alternatively, what can y'all tell me about installing a holster in a "regular' bag? Hoping for something easy to install; I knit, crochet, and spin, but I'm lousy with a sewing machine!

Miss Sew Texas will now give you all of the info you could want, she makes her own holsters and gun carrying accessories.

You can Google conceal carry leggings, and there are several manufacturers making them. Since I'm not female and don't wear leggings, I can't speak to the fit, or comfort of any of them.
One site you may want to check is The Well Armed Woman. https://thewellarmedwoman.com
I have met several women who like their products.

Good luck, I know women, have more issues dealing with carrying than men, but our wardrobe doesn't change much. We are the simpler of the species. Take that any way you like.

[Lisa517]

Good luck, I know women, have more issues dealing with carrying than men, but our wardrobe doesn't change much. We are the simpler of the species. Take that any way you like.

And/or you're the gender that demands consistency and practicality from their clothing manufacturers! #womenneedpockets #andconsistentsizing

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out! And I look forward to being "schooled" on bag sewing! :)

[SewTexas]

Lisa, I'm away for the weekend, I'll get back to you on Sunday with all sorts of info

[srothstein]

IMO, the purse market is still highly lacking, and a lot of it is sexist to boot. I won't even look at most of the products, which are toward the frilly or rhinestone-y end of the spectrum. And/or the construction quality just isn't there. And/or the prices are ridiculous for what is offered. And/or the design has not been thought through. Handguns are freakin' heavy - add a full leather purse to that and it just becomes a ball and chain. I'm partial to tech fabrics to lighten the load. Leather is extremely heavy. It sure looks nice, but I gave it up because of the weight.

I happened to stop at Bass Pro the other day and my youngest daughter was with me. When I went to look at the guns, she started looking at their display of concealed carry purses. This kind of surprised me since she doesn't carry or shoot that much. She said she was just looking for a new purse anyway. I thought there was a decent selection of styles and the quality looked okay. Of course, being a guy, my idea of a decent selection is having both brown and black, so take that part for what it's worth. My daughter was not disappointed with the choice of designs though.

The designs were not well thought out for carry though, IMO. In many of them, the pocket for the pistol had zippers that closed it completely, making a moderately quick draw almost impossible. She found several she thought were nice for her purposes, ignoring my comments about the carry capabilities. Then she saw the prices, and decided she was not getting a new purse there. She definitely did not see anything worth what they were asking for them.

[Lisa517]

Lisa, I'm away for the weekend, I'll get back to you on Sunday with all sorts of info

Thanks! And I see you're not *too* far away from me (at least in Texas terms!) so if need be, we could meet in the middle around San Marcos and I could pay ya for some custom work, maybe!

[SewTexas]

here are a couple of pics of the corset that I made. I really need to make a new one, I gained some "care-taker" weight and I can't motivate myself to work out.

this one shows it on:


this one shows it flat, with gun in. it shows the "pocket" close up, there is a pocket on each side. It's just wide elastic, on a Walmart corset. I modeled it on the popular "corset holster" that is well over $100. this was nowhere near that.



(I've got to get some pics of my leggings, I had some in my dropbox, but can't find it. Back in a bit.)

[SewTexas]

ok now the leggings....these are really more of a "shorty" they are an undergarment for skirts or dresses. Here's what I did and then the pics....I bought a pair from WM, plus a very large cheap undergarment of a matching color and fabric, from the clearance rack, I used the second garment for the pockets. I was able to get all 3 of the pockets from the waistband, this provides the "grippiness". I didn't pull or stretch the pockets, I just laid them on and stitched, the garment is meant to stretch and pull your body in, and I decided to use that compression to keep the gun in place, and it worked perfectly.

one side only has a waist pocket


this side has a waist pocket and a leg pocket, the leg pocket works well for dresses


the waist pockets work well for skirts