Any ideas how to find elastic waistband slacks for tiny elderly woman?

Sears would probably be the best place for petite sizes, but Sears and Walmart still carry those elastic waist polyester slacks that have been around forever. They are cheap, easy to wash and in my opinion look just fine for a 95 year old.

Thank you for your suggestions. The type of slacks you describe are exactly what she has.

I think some hospital scrubs have elastic waistbands, some are drawstring. I've seen them at Salvation Army stores.

You can also try googling women's elastic pants. I did and learned that these retailers carry them:

Blair, Land's End, Macy's, Walmart, K-Mart, LLBean and Kohl's all carry them.

If she finds the waistband binding, how about a larger size?

Babalu, this was my first thought, but if I get them any larger (they're size M 12-14, and she only weighs 100lbs.) she won't be able to keep them up when she stands.

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I did find a pair that would work at Silvert's. They are full elastic waistband, but have two Velcro openings on the waistband as well. She should be able to adjust the fit that way. Now....if she'll just try them.

Just cut the elastic. They won't fall off. It just makes the waist looser.

MaggieMarshall - she's already done that, before the NH discovered she had a scissors, and now she works at the cuts with a nail file to make them deeper.

Lynn, what about teen sizes? Would they work for your slender mom?

I also thought of children's sizes but I don't think the pants would be long enough.

Oh my gosh, it is so difficult to find slacks as we get older and our bodies shift off into other directions. Our hourglass shape now resemble that of a pear.

My Mom is 95 lbs but has a large waist [as many of us will see as we get older] but she has shrunk in height over the years. Even petites are too long. So now I am thinking of buying her crop length pants in petites which will look like regular length pants on her. It's just finding a waist size that fits.

The larger the waist the larger the hips and thighs on the clothing. I feel like I am wearing clown pants now a days because of the way the slacks fit :P

Try Alfred Dunner petites sizes in short length. I buy them online from Macy's. They are about 25.00 USD and was and dry well. The polyester in them keeps them from staining.

Frequflyer, this is exactly the problem with my mom! Although she's shrunk overall, her legs are still too long for what you suggest re crops. Great idea, though. Short compact torso, long legs by comparison. I'm afraid she may be stuck with clown pants.

Txcamper, Alfred Dunner is a good brand for my mom, and petite tops are perfect. But her legs are too long for petites.

GardenArtist, I hadn't thought of teen sizes, since the styles for the younger set are just too 'mod' for my mom. Good suggestion, though. She has a disproportionately large stomach for a tiny person, and that's a lot of the problem in fitting her.

Leggings are not tight in the waist, looks cute with something oversized as a top. The leggings at Walmart come in different lengths.
They actually protect the legs from getting chilled, offer a little support wthout binding, move with you in bed, and are light weight enough to stay cool in summer.

Drawstrings hurt if you are uncomfortable at any size. Wear dresses, muumuus, or large blouses, pajama tops over stretchable leggings. Buy more than two, cause you are going to have to go back.
Introduce them as overnight wear, then she won't want to take them off in the daytime.
Also, check if her underwear are not causing part of the problem around her waist.

Lynn, the petite size is the stride, the short length is for the legs. Buy the regular size. The Macy's website has a measurement chart.

I like Alfred Dunner too. They are sturdy, and come in a lot of colors with coordinating shirts and sweaters.

I would suggest loose dresses. I am an apple shape, with thin legs, and larger middle. It is so hard to find something without having it made. So, sometimes I wear sundresses. With your mom, you could do what sendme2help said. I would also suggest maternity pants if she insists on pants.

I should say, dresses with no waist band. House dresses, muumuus, maxi dresses, sun dresses, some version of those things.

Thank you, thank you all. My mom would never try anything new, and of course no one wants to force her, so we're pretty much stuck with slacks. Wonderful, helpful suggestions!

If mom is tiny but with a good bit of a tummy, you might look into maternity pants. Target carries an inexpensive maternity line and their pants tend to have a front panel that is super soft & run from side seam to side seam and dyed to match the rest of the pant. With a longer top or tunic style top you can't tell the panel. When maternity goes clearance at target, it's super marked down too.

Btw maternity has come a long way from the tent dress with a Peter pan collar and big bow both in style and technology of "give" & softness of fabric.

Igloo572, I did consider maternity pants, but if my mom know that's what they were, she wouldn't touch them. And if they have a stretch front panel, she would know in an instant. Thank you for the suggestion, though.

Lynn, your Mom and my Mom sound so much alike when it comes to clothes. My Mom will just have to keep wearing her old slacks until the threads fall apart.

Mom is in denial that because she has stunk over the years that it is harder to find clothing. I would give her the perfect top, but she would poo poo it because it had just one pocket instead of who.... [rolling eyes].

I have had good luck for myself with an on-line catalog called National [website google ShopNational. Nice selection and just about everything fits for me.

This is so tough, you may want to look into chef pants for her. They usually have a super wide elastic top with twin pockets or cargo style pocket at the lower thigh as well. Most tend to be somewhat " clowny" as designed to give for squats. But there are narrow leg ones too. Chefwear has a large selection of women's in narrow leg & traditional leg. Now they ain't cheap as their " uniforms" but they can hold up for years under duress & high heat washer & dryer. So if you factor in time, a great value.

If your in Chicago, chefwear has a store that runs an annual sale and stuff is beyond cheap.

Freqflyer, oh indeed our moms are a lot alike! I'll look into the ShopNational website. I've sworn lots of times that I will never ever give my mom another article of clothing.....and yet here I am doing just that. Hope springs eternal, as the old saying goes.

I get my Mothers pants at Walmart and she weighs 90 pounds.They are cotton and polyester and she has white,navy.and black.She is in a wheelchair and these work great and they have pockets too.Good Luck!!!

Oh - the pants debate...

Mother (age 103) has shrunk a bit from her original 5' 2.5 "and also has sessions of being bloated. As well as that she wears depends due to some leaking, so her waist size has gone up. Like some others here she does not do casual, so sweats etc. are out and she only wears black. Her inseam is now 26.5 and her waist 37.5 (including the depends) so she needs a large but she has very small hips and butt. It is a challenge. The best I have found so far are slinky pants which are not big in the hips in size large. I order them online, hot wash and dry them here and then get them hemmed to her length. I also tried a pair with a double layer fold over waist band which is very soft. I have a pair with that waist band and it is very comfortable. If that works I can get her more of them if needed. I got all these on The Shopping Channel (Canada).

I am sure there is a growing need for pants and other clothing suitable for the elderly and I wish someone would get onto it.

If the waistband is too tight why not get another piece of elastic the same width as what is in there and just put an extension on the waistband . If you sewed a button on each end of the existing waistband you could put a buttonholed piece in which she could adjust to her correct size - would that work - or just rethread with longer elastic

Emjo there is a lot of adaptive clothing out there - I was pointed in the direction of it yesterday. Just google adaptive clothing and you will see a host of sites that cater for those who have difficulties

Thx Jude.

Pants these days are not made with elastic in them - the waist bands are made of stretchy material, You would have to totally reconstruct the waist. It would be simpler to have them made I think. I asked the local tailor to do something similar with her dress slacks and he wouldn't.

I have looked at the adaptive clothing sites and not found anything. The issue is not that she has trouble dressing with her current clothing but that her waist is disproportionally large for the rest of her. I guess what I was thinking of is sizing that suits seniors with bloated bellies. - larger and non restrictive waist but not larger hip or butt in our case. However there were some nice nighties!

Try Bonworth. They fit my mother very nicely and are good quality.

Emjo easy then try maternity wear - that will be bigger in the waist for her you look for over the bump pants and then you will see that there is a softer material used for that - it should do the trick. If she has already cut the tops of the trousers it will take a bit of doing but you could get some knitted waistband fabric - it is sold on eBay and you search for Elastic rib knit fabric*cuffs*waistband knitted fabric*trim*jersey then you could just cut off the existing waistband and use that instead - it is much softer and stretches better than the type you're talking about. Or if you have a sewing machine and can use it then you could cut the wait band off completely sew on a fold banded from an old tee shirt (cut below the armholes and fold in two - that would also do the trick the instructions for that can be found on instructables website.

Thx Jude. Think the ones I got for her will do. She does not cut her clothing. - that was someone else. I don't sew anymore. I used to quite a bit, but I gave my machine away last year. It gets harder and harder to thread a needle. :(