My fiancé will he getting her LTC soon and she has settled on the S&W shield in 9mm. She never wears a belt or has many pants with belt loops. I was thinking of a quality Kydex holster with an Ulti Clip or maybe a belly band?

How does your wife conceal her CCW?

(No photos, I posted this in tech for a reason)

Some women’s clothing is simply not suited for carry.   I am just going off my wife’s wardrobe..she has the purse with a pistol pouch thing.

I would put this question in the Women’s shooter forum too.

Didn’t know we had a woman’s forum

Mods if you could move this over there that would be great, sorry for wasting site resources

Most people have to change their wardrobe to carry regularly.  No more leggings and sweatpants.

Ya I can see that, she wears a lot of Nike shorts, but it seems like the ulti clip could be a solution.

Only if the weight doesn't pull down on them.

Great consideration, I was just thinking about that

You need to hit up women shooters.  My wife has leggings with a built in pocket for a pistol.  Put a Kydex trigger guard on it and go.

My wife is also blessed enough now to carry in her bra. ??

Find a training place near you with women instructors.  They can give her the ins and outs we cannot attest to.  Best thing I did for my wife was to not try to coach or instructor her myself.

My wife recently got her LTC and carries every day, so far her favorite has been in a Dean Adams corset. She carries a P365 and a shield with spare mags.

She also has a few pairs of yoga pants made for carrying a gun. They look amazing And hold the gun where it’s needed, but when you draw they pull a little with the gun because they are stretchy material. They do have belt loops which is nice but still not the best, but damn they look good.

For Christmas I got her a Crossbreed Minituck to try out because she likes how it contours to the body.

She has a few OWB holsters that are good too but that doesn’t help for concealment options.

I know two females that bought small single stack 9mms for carry, but neither carry them.  One is a LEO and bought a Glock 43 because her issue gun is a Glock 19.  She ended up getting a KelTec 32 for EDC.  The other is a Physicians Assistant and bought a Shield 9mm.  She ended up with a Ruger LCP.

The stated reason is they didn't' want to change their entire wardrobe to facilitate carrying.  Men and women seem to differ in this respect.  I personally dress for carry, but ALL of the women I know don't like to modify their attire for carry.  Many manage to carry a tiny 32 or 380 but that's the extent of it.

Forgot ... my Uncle's wife (who is 3 years my junior) carries a SIG 365 in her purse.  Terrible idea.

Her wardrobe is loose fitting T shirts and shorts, which is nice for conceal carry. I think we have settled on the MissConcealed Laced Heat belly band.

Like you said guys tend to dress around what they carry, I’m lucky that my style of clothing is conducive to conceal carry

Because of the way women's hips and waist are shaped, very frequently, holsters that work for men will be unsuitable for women.  She would be well advised to talk with other female shooters who have dealt with the issue before.  IIRC, there is even a female forum in this web site.

Yes this has been cross posted in the woman’s forum, and we don’t know any woman shooters currently . My university hosted a seminar on Female CCW, but we didn’t know about until a week after.

Appendix carry is suitable for a lot of women.

The problem is a complete different type of clothing.  I have the same issues because 99.9% of my clothing doesn't have belt loops nor will it bear the weight of a holstered gun.  If I tried to use a clip on holster it would just pull whatever I'm wearing down.  Not an option.  It's not as simple as just saying change your clothing type for us.  Even most of my jeans won't stay up if I try to clip a holster to the waistband.  A lot of women's jeans don't have belt loops and if they do they are more decorative than functional and usually not wide enough for a strong enough belt.  All of this is in addition to the difference in body shapes. A belt holstered gun that conceals well on a man may not on a woman.

There are belly bands of different types which can work in some cases but not all of them.  There are the bra mount holsters but I'm just not sure how viable they are.  I have plenty of chest but even with subcompacts it only conceals well when standing.  If you sit or twist or basically move any way normally other than standing straight up you will often print.  And when you print in that particular area it is very noticeable.  Not to mention they can be fairly uncomfortable.  Not just an annoyance uncomfortable but ouch uncomfortable which means you are less likely to continue using it.

Carrying off body, aka purse carry, isn't ideal by any means but it is the single most secure way for every woman to carry regardless of the type of clothing.  There are many purpose made carry purses designed to allow easy and relatively fast retrieval of your firearm.  Just sticking a holster in your normal purse is a bad idea.

I've been searching for better ways to carry for a long time and it's a tough road for women.  Women who wear a lot of normal weight jeans or heavy slacks can make most holsters work with a belt and some holsters without but that's limited percentage of women.  The only real advice I can offer is collecting different types of holsters and try to pick the best one for what you have to wear that day/night.  I wear a lot of shorts, sweats, skirts and such so finding good carry methods is a challenge.  I considered an ankle holster for wearing with sweats but it's not a fast option and they still print quite a bit.  I tried a shoulder holster but even when wearing a hoodie it prints enough to make it a no go.  With a heavier top garment it would work but you are stuck wearing a heavy top.  Here in OK it gets hot and ranges from very warm to hot most of the year.  I wish there were better options but if there are I don't know of them yet.

Until something better comes along I carry using a crossbody carry purse.  It has a dedicated gun area with a velcro holster and is accessible from either side of my bag.  Because it's a crossbody it's comfortable enough to always keep it on me when I'm out and about.  It stays on my person when I'm out shopping or whatever.  It never sits in my grocery cart or someplace where it can be accessed by someone else.  It's not a perfect option but it's the best option I've found so far.

These are just my opinions from mine and my sisters personal experiences.  Every woman is different and other women may have had different experiences with the methods I discussed.

I never personally spend any time here but this used to be a resource cited by some women Cornered Cat.  She has a few sections on holsters.

my wife carries her 85CH and 3 speed loaders in a makeup pouch.

just a suggestion... this is what I carry (male, old, overweight) in central Gulf coast of Florida....could your wife adapt some of the ideas to her situation?

nylon cargo fishing shorts...

heavy, stiff velcro closure under belt, and pair of Perry J hook suspenders... the stiff belt and suspenders do not have to be as snug to support a G43 and mag pouch as much as if they would if were used without the suspenders...it might be easier to adapt existing belt loops for their use...Tulster holster and mag pouch.. easy on and off

cover up garment is a nylon cape back fishing shirt, unbuttoned

My wife has carried various 2' .38 spl revolvers in her purse for years.  When the boys were young she used to carry a small diaper bag.  No one in their right mind would steal one of those things because you never know what was inside.  That lasted until my eldest told her she was too old to have a baby.  Yes, he survived but just barely