Clothing design challenges with LE

Binney4

In an earlier discussion here (on a thread called "Does your lymphedema hurt", where I'm afraid it's gotten lost from view) there were some posts about the kinds of clothing problems we lymphers have, and the fact that we need some skilled and creative minds working on ideas to help us. Challenges like these:

How to manage the weeks and stray days of having an oversized wrapped arm.

How to look and feel feminine (sexy, maybe?!) in an industrial-strength night garment.

Clothes to complement (instead of just hiding) our arm and hand garments.

Both "proudtospin" and "momine" expressed an interest in putting their creative juices to work on some of these challenges, so I wanted to start a new thread here where we can list our clothing needs and wishes, and encourage all those with the skill and interest to share their ideas for improvements to our wardrobe, ask for more details, or become inspired to invent brave new solutions!

Hoping we can make this a productive and uplifting project!
Binney

carol57

Binney, thank you for starting this thread!  I wish I had some smart ideas, which I do not, but I'll be watching to see what surfaces.

cookiegal

I started a picture thread for this a while ago. There was a one arm dress trend, some with looong arms.

I have one other tip....in walmart the juniors run up to 17 or 19...they have loooong sleeves with out having a wide body.

Kmart and other jr departments seem to have the longest sleeves.

I will say my best looking sleeve(though not the most theraputic) is the Barton Carey one piece in black.  

AnnetteS

How about clothes with one arm larger around than the other? I'm not sure how practical that is since it could be either arm that is swollen, but I cannot wear any long sleeved shirts because my right arm does not fit.....

YYC18tillIdie

I tend to avoid long sleeved "anything". It can be a challange in -30 degree winters so I just buy "bigger" coats.

I find long sleeve shirts are either to tight or they stick to my sleeve and it is just plain uncomfortable. I am still hot flashing so long sleeve equals heatwave! I usually wear capsleeve or sleevless and will just pull on a light swearter if I have to. Otherwise I have taken some of my fav shirts to a "seamstress" and had her alter the arm hole so I can fit my LE arm as I am not confident enough in my sewing skills to do it myself.

I would like to sew some covers for my sleeves - I am thinking a light stretch lace? to at least dress up my plain ones. I have bought colors to match my clothes? My next challange will be hand painting and or bling to make them pop.

I don't want to hide them, so I would rather make my sleeve a conversation peice?

I agree that finding clothes is not the easiest thing, I think it is easier to dress up my sleeve.

this is a site I have considered buying from - though I have not yet!

http://couturebrandsusa.com/products-page/fashion-cast-covers/ 

Hope this helps

hugz4u

YYC18 I am so happy that you don't worry too much about your sleeves showing. I need a page out of your book.

Here is how I feel right now. I have just put on a formal evening dress on without my glove and sleeve and I feel pretty for the first time in ages. I feel so liberated although I know I will be in the dreaded gear tomorrow.  I must be vain or something because I loath the look of my Le gear. I usually wear a hoody with the thumb hole sleeves to hide it but it is summer and I have had to dress down. For the first time in my life I am actually looking forward to cold and rain so I can get that hoody on. I know I need a adjustment in my thinking patterns.

Binney4

Hi, YYC, and welcome! Glad you found us. I'm excited about your sewing projects and hope you'll let us know how that works out. Maybe some pictures? Great idea to involve a seamstress in solving some of these problems. I'll bet she found that challenge interesting and worthwhile.

If you're looking for lace and bling, Lymphedivas offers both, with their Midnight Lace and their Crystals styles. (They also have an awesome tattoo pattern that looks like the real thing on--very neat!) They're regular compression garments, not oversleeves, so they offer matching (or contrasting) gauntlets as well.

As far as oversleeves go, SassySleeves doesn't offer any hand cover, but they have fun patterns. WarriorWear's ArmCandy comes only in solid colors, but they have a ruff that partly covers the hand--a pretty design feature. Any oversleeve (homemade or purchased) can cause constriction if the fit isn't right, so checking them out with your therapist would give you some extra protection.

Hugz, I can sure appreciate your comment, "Here is how I feel right now." Learning to live with this chronic condition is a process, a lot of it involving grieving, and it sure doesn't happen overnight. At least we can appreciate the cold and rain in ways we never did before! I've been at this a long time, and there are still those days when I just want a loooooong vacation from LE.

Be well!
Binney

 

hugz4u

Binney, Thank you for validating my feelings. I am back home now in pjs with my shaper gear with a swell spot and I am over my attitude for now. Yes we do grieve, that is for sure and it comes at the oddest moments. Ok I am on the upswing of my mood so onto better things.

YYC, I got  black fish net footless tights and cut a hole for my thumb and sometimes wear them with certain clothes that can pull this look off.  Binney is right. Don't get them too tight. Buy the largest size if you can. The footless part has a bound edge so it looks finished. The fishnet only needs a couple thread snipped for the hole. 

I also wear in the winter knitted fingerless gloves and knitted gauntlets over my LE gloves. Always try before you buy as sometimes they won't fit over the Le gloves. I should just give it up and succumb to my LE gear but I am not up to it yet! Yup, I am embrassed!

cookiegal

Hugs...I have done that too with the gloves. Can not wait for winter to do it again. It is the most normal I can look. 

Will try the fish nets.

Do you think if I get the pink ribbon sassy sleeve people will put two and two together and stop asking questions.

OMG we need a sleeve with the explanation printed on it!

LOST: Lymph Nodes... will pay huge reward for return

I'm not drunk I swear! 

hugz4u

Cookie, Oh my, you have me giggling at the Lost Lymph node joke! Best thing I heard all day. 

On the clothes designing topic. If you like a cape jacket. That is pretty good for LE concealing and good for wrapped arms.  I use to wear them before LE but now I just feel kinda like I am wearing a giant sized piece of swatch! especially with all the LE gear on. Still some might like the swaddled feeling.

Quail

While we're talking about winter, I've noticed that Land's End is selling a "Women's wool cape" on their website.  I don't like capes, and this one is no exception, but it looks warm and tailored and like it would go over pretty much anything you wanted to put on your arm. 

Hugz, for a brief moment when you started talking about fishnet stockings, I thought you were about to tell us about your "formal evening dress." Then I realized you were giving over-sleeve tips.  We ALL know what you mean about grieving.  When I got back from my holiday and saw my holiday snaps, I wanted to cry. Who is that woman in the crap-looking wig with the bandage on her arm? Oh yea, that's me.  I think I'll go back and read the Ohio conference thread--that has cheered me up no end! (that lymph node joke got me laughing, too, Cookie. I need one of those, for sure.)

GottaloveNED

Cookie: I LOVE the lost lymph node /reward idea. It might be fun to use one of my old sleeves to give people who know me ( especially my LE therapist) a laugh!! If I have to explain multiple times a day what's up with my arm, I may as well have fun with it. Lately, I've been using the "vascular condition" comment someone left on one of the threads. I used to say it was a result of surgery, but then all the nosy Rosie's wanted to know what kind and the conversation dragged on. Sometimes I just want to buy milk and get out, not be the poster child/ LE education expert for my town.

Anonymous

Cookie, I love the lost lymph nodes joke! :-)

Anonymous

I'm pretty small, and when my arm was first wrapped I needed a sweat jacket I could wear. The women's jackets were way too fitted. However, I didn't want to look like I was drowning in one and discovered that the men's section geared more toward younger guys has jackets and shirts that are more fitted, but the arms were wide enough to fit over my wrapped arm nicely. So the body of the jacket was less bulky but the sleeves still covered my wrapped arm. I wear a men's small, and the jacket even looks nice enough to wear when I'm not wrapped.

cookiegal

ok I splurged today on an amazing sweater with cuffs on it...I will let one out to cover the glove...mine is black

Binney4

Cookie, you'll be beautiful! I like the brown too, though. Maybe two? Gonna get cold soon, y'know....
Binney

carol57

Cookie, that really is gorgeous!  You will look AND feel good in it!

BeckySharp

I love it!  What a fashion statement!!

proudtospin

OK, so I am in the midst of planning for a life in retirement, where I need to earn some money to suppliment my retirement funds

have been saying I would do sewing, mending such, maybe doll clothes but you have given me great thought on lymphodemia clothing alterations and such!  If you need some help, yell if you are close to NJ or NY or PM me and maybe we can work something out

thinking my embroidery machine might do fine things with the phrases! 

cookiegal

Glad you like it. Two are not in the budget. Was easily the most expensive sweater I ever bought. (I don't buy a lot of sweaters tho)

Also it really seems to help to match the color of the glove. (That would be black or lavender, the lavender glove works with my lavender raincoat and not much else.)

One of the good things about being in NYC is I now go into a lot of unique shops and look for stuff with freaky long sleeves. The good thing is that there are a lot of sales right now. 

I just realized that I can not spend my whole life in schmattas from K-mart...nothing against them...I have a ton of them and I shop at walmart too, but I need to have some clothes that cover the glove and make me feel stylish, if I am going to ever get back to being myself and living my life in the city.

Fall is soooo much easier, the black glove looks a lot less medical, and in winter the fingerless are a great solution.

cookiegal

Proud to spin....what I find is I need stuff with convertable sleeves, so I can pull down the LE side and pull up the good side.

I wear a lot of loose beachy coverups, but that is only because the sleeves run long.

What I really want is stylish form-filling with adjustable sleeves, my dream is to find a dress like that. I also want it to show some clevage to compensate for the long sleeves.

My dream dress would have a plunge or sweetheart neck, with some sort of sleeve that wasn't too loose and had a flaired cuff at the bottom that would hide a glove, but could flip up on the longside.

I also find that fabric has to be a bit opaque and slightly loose so the contours of the sleeve don't show.

YYC18tillIdie

hugz4u I love the "fish net" idea. I will have to give it a try.

I do wear the SassySleeve with the pink ribbon (for the life of me I cannot figure out how to put up a pic of me in it?).

cookiegal: I would love if Lymphediva's did a neon yellow with "LYMPHEDEMA" down it in black (think YIELD sign). I would wear it to anything with crowds LOL. Fairs, concerts, Calgary Stampede!

I am definitely thinking Cape! Keeps you warm and cool at the same time. And does not matter how big your arm is, it will fit.  We all have such challenges wearing any kind of sleeve so I have decided - sleeves (not LE ones) are the enemy. I will keep a seamstress on payroll till they find a cure. proudtospin if you were closer you would have my business - unfortunately (or not) I am way up in Canada.

I am getting married next fall - I have already  budgeted for the Lace sleeve from Lymphadiva's just for the occasion. A girl has to look awesome on her wedding day

proudtospin

bet you will look awesome on your day, the lace sleeve should be perfect for the day! yeap would help if you lived closer!

Binney4

YYC, I sent your idea to Lymphedivas--think of the potential for educating our doctors and nurses (not to mention protecting our arms!) if we could wear one of those to our appointments. Yes!

Be well!
Binney

YYC18tillIdie

Binney I actually wear one of the "pink" hospital bands on my LE arm when I go to the hospital I have had two surgeries since my LE reared its ugly head and no one will go near that arm.

I got it at: http://www.lymphedema.com/alertband.htm

they send them for free, so anyone with LE that has upcoming surgery can go and order one. They send two but they are re-usable. It was totally worth it for me. I have had two reconstruction surgeries (one for TE's and one to replace my popped TE's). The hospital staff were grateful for the warning that was so visible. They put on your chart NO BP or NEEDLES, but I was not willing to take the chance.

thank you for passing on my "yield" idea, I am sure hospital staff would love it. I know I would probably wear it alot! I hate having to use my fiance or daughter as my "arm-ored guard". We went to the Calgary Stampede this summer and I so wished I had one. I will be keeping my eye out on the Lymphediva site for it. In the mean time, guess I will try and make my own! LOL. I will not let this keep me for Living life in the fast lane.

LympheDIVAs

This may be a little late, but we do have a sleeve design for post-surgical. We can do a Black/Yellow design if there is an interest - just let me know! Neither are on as regular garments, but give me a call at 866-411-DIVA (3482) and I'd be happy to try and help.

Thank you!

josh

OneBadBoob

Hi Josh and thank you!



I think we all would love the yellow caution sleeve for our medical appointments.



Any pictures?

LympheDIVAs

So it turns out it was a work-in-progress and never completed. But I think this is a good time to complete if there is an interest! I'll work on yield yellow/black inspired design. 

Is there any specific language you would like?

Binney4

YYC suggested "LYMPHEDEMA" in black on neon yellow. I neve use the word on my medical ID jewelry because medical personnel don't know it means to leave the arm alone. But if this was on a sleeve I do think they'd get the message. LOVE IT! Maybe a couple or diagonal black stripes at the top and bottom?

What other thought?
Binney

P.S.-Why have all our smilies turned into words--anybody know?

LympheDIVAs

Do we want to add anything like "DO NOT STICK" or any other language besides LYMPHEDEMA? My concern is that whomever is doing something doesn't know that Lymphedema means don't touch.

proudtospin

I like the do not stick, I wear a basic stainless bracelet that says ....no blood draw!

but still tell folks

I like DO NOT STICK better