Dress To Conceal

Nylon polo shirts like this one can be comfortable, but tend to drape around the outline of a concealed gun. Here, I’m carrying a Sig Sauer P229 in a Blackpoint outside the waistband holster

I’ve always wanted to do some type of outrageous experiment to prove how unobservant the general public really is. Think about it: Ever since the advent of smartphones, hardly anyone notices anything anymore except Facebook notifications, Instagram pictures, and incoming texts. Now that Pokémon Go is all the rage, I’m betting I could walk through downtown Sheboygan, Wisconsin carrying a medieval trebuchet concealed with nothing but a feather boa and no one would notice. But seriously, if you’re carrying a concealed gun somewhere around your middle parts area, it would be a very rare thing indeed for someone to notice your carry gun, provided it was at least minimally covered.

However, as a law-abiding concealed carrier, it’s your responsibility to keep your gun concealed, meaning hidden from view. Different states have different laws regarding the consequences of having a concealed gun show, so it’s in your best interest to make a concerted effort to keep your handgun hidden while you go about your daily activities.

Here are few wardrobe tips that can help you attain maximum concealment:

1. Think patterns, not solids

You might think that getting all worked up about printed patterns and colors on fabrics is something that only TV’s Project Runway guest judges care about. I’ve got news for you. As a concealed carrier, you need to start thinking about colors and patterns on your carry clothing too, even if you’ll never grace the pages of Esquire Magazine as a result of your wardrobe choices.

In this picture, I’m carrying the same Sig Sauer P229 in the same Blackpoint OWB holster. However, this Blackhawk! 1700 shirt has two things going for it. The pattern helps conceal the bulge of the gun, and the structure of the fabric prevents it from wrapping around the gun’s profile.

Why? Patterns fool the human eye. Even a deeply concealed handgun carried in an-inside-the-waistband holster creates bulk, and possibly an outline that can print against your clothing. If you wear a light, solid color shirt to cover your handgun, the outline is more likely to show because there’s not enough “busyness” to distract the eye. If you choose the exact same shirt but with a plaid pattern, the protrusions of your gun will get lost in the pattern of the fabric.

Think about it. When you see the pattern of a handgun under fabric, you’re really seeing lines. If you create lines in the fabric, the printed lines won’t be nearly so visible.

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