I first wrote this blog in October 2018. I updated it in May 2023.

In my first blog about living with IBS, I wrote that I always feel fat. This is mainly due to my IBS and because my stomach is often bloated.

The low FODMAP diet has already reduced that bloating, but for me, it is almost every day that my stomach is a lot more swollen in the afternoon than in the morning.

Even if I just ate low FODMAP. If I then wear an outfit with tight pants, it makes me feel super uncomfortable in my clothes.

A while ago I decided that I no longer wanted to. That I just want my clothes to always fit well and that’s why I started looking for IBS-proof pants.

It is important to me that my clothes look nice. When I’m at home I almost always walk around in sweatpants or leggings (because oh how comfortable they are), but of course, I can’t go to work in such an outfit.

In this blog, I want to share my favorite IBS-proof pants with you.

Pants that stretch with your stomach, so that they are comfortable in the morning and afternoon and so that you can also wear them on days when you suffer from a bloated stomach.

If you have any good tips, please share them in the comments. Then we can get inspiration from each other!

Note that I live in the Netherlands and not all tips that I share will be available in other countries.

If you have tips for comfortable pants in the country where you are from, please share them in the comments below! So we can share ideas with each other.

I think a few years ago it would have been a lot harder to find IBS-proof pants.

Fortunately, nowadays there are many comfortable trousers with an elastic waistband that also look nice.

My favorite IBS-proof pants

Stretch jeans

In terms of jeans, I don’t necessarily have a favorite brand. I make sure to always choose jeans with a stretchy waistband when wearing jeans.

I think jeans without stretch, for example, mom jeans that are tight at the waist, always look great on other people.

But my stomach hurts just looking at it. Those kinds of pants are just not comfortable for me to wear.

A brand from which I recently bought very nice stretch jeans with flared legs is the Angels brand.

These pants are so comfortable that you hardly feel you are wearing them. You can buy this brand at About You, among others.

Loose leggings and flared pants

My favorite time of the year in terms of clothing is definitely summer. In which the loose leggings and flared pants are worn by everyone.

These pants often fit like you’re wearing pajamas, but still look super nice.

Fantastic to feel your bloated belly a little less. I like to shop for these kinds of pants at stores like Costes, Mango, and Yaya.

At this last store, I also bought a lovely suit with super stretchy pants. This also feels as comfortable as wearing pajamas.

But the outfit looks super nice and neat. I bought this suit last year in a purple color, now it is still available in gray, among other things.

But nowadays in many shops, you come across nice suits in different colors, with trousers with an elastic waistband.

At Yaya, I also sometimes buy short or medium-length skirts, with an elastic waistband. I also like this one.

Poptrash pants by Only

These pants have been in stores for a number of years and were my first more comfortable pants that I bought about 5 years ago.

They are quite casual, but with a blouse and a blazer, for example, you can also wear them as a neat outfit. For example to work.

There are many different types, so there is usually something that suits your taste.

Thanks to the elastic band at the top, the pants are wonderfully comfortable, also when you have a bloated belly.

You can buy these pants at About You, among others.

Dresses and tights

There are also days when I don’t feel like wearing pants at all, not even IBS-proof pants, and then I like to go for a dress.

With dresses, I think it is important that they are not tight at the belly. Even if there is only a very thin band, it will often feel irritating to me.

I usually choose A-line dresses or straight dresses, because they also hide your belly nicely if you have a bad day.

My favorite tights to wear with a dress or skirt are from the brand Snag. Before I found this brand, I often bought tights at random stores and I cut them open a bit at the top.

But it still wasn’t feeling great most of the time. Now that I found the tights from Snag, I only wear those. I love them.

You have many different sizes (from size 32 to 64) and types of tights so that they fit different types of figures.

The tights are sold in different colors and with fun patterns, so plenty of choice. Snag sells and ships their tights internationally.

Your tips – update

In the comments of this blog, a lot of tips have been left for IBS-proof pants. I haven’t tried all of these. But I’ll share them here to give you some extra ideas:

• Je m’appelle – trousers made of travel fabric (the Netherlands)
• Studio Anneloes – trousers made of travel fabric (the Netherlands)
• Zerres – trousers with comfort waistband (the Netherlands)
• Oysho pants (Worldwide)
• 1822 denim (Worldwide)
• Carve designs – Carson jeans (US)

If you have more great tips for comfortable pants or other outfits. Be sure to let us know in the comments! Also, international tips are very welcome.

Then we can continue to share good tips with each other.