Put yourself in my shoes – it’s late July, you’re in a shopping centre and you’re looking for a nice pair of jeans to wear to university but unfortunately, this task is not as simple as it seems.
My dexterity is moderately impacted by my cerebral palsy which means that when clothes that I wear have buttons or a small zipper, I can’t dress myself independently. It’s so unfair that people like me are put in a position where we have to choose between independence and dressing however we’d like.
I find the clothing industry particularly lacking in any effort towards accessibility, which is also strange because I think easy dressing clothing has a market much wider than just disabled people (e.g. people who wake up late and need to get dressed in a rush). I also don’t think there needs to be a massive movement for accessible clothing, if a brand is producing a new summer line, then why not have a few products that just happen to have magnetic closures? The likelihood is that able-bodied customers wouldn’t bat an eyelid if there was no flashy label saying that these clothes are ‘special’. In addition to this, I think it’s important that people don’t just stop at the basics. For example, I think it would be easy to elasticate the waistband of some trousers, and what about implementing magnetic zip closures, or jumpers that open at the sides for wheelchair users?
I don’t think these things are ever considered in product design unless the company is consciously producing clothes for disabled people. However, an example of making products accessible is the makeup brand, Rare Beauty. The brand is owned by Selena Gomez who has Lupus which makes her hands shake (much like mine). The lids of her makeup products are all designed to be easily gripped and opened – but they aren’t seen as products specifically for disabled people, it is simply universal design that works for everyone. I think this is the direction in which brands should be going. Wouldn’t integrating things like Velcro or magnets or stretchy material into clothing that brands are already selling, be a small and simple step forward in making the world more accessible?
These changes in products also have the potential to help bring down the high unemployment rate among disabled people and create jobs for us: helping designers understand the challenges we face and in testing new products. It would help to integrate disabled people into the clothing industry or the beauty industry, or, in fact, any industry, making thousands of lives easier.
About Melissa Cassidy
Melissa Cassidy discusses topics surrounding disability as well as her own experiences as a teenager with cerebral palsy. She has received a Diana Award for her writing which she uses to share her experiences and advocate for the disability community. Melissa has also published a children’s book, ‘Doodle the Poodle’s Big Day Out’ (published by Alder Books).
Visit her blog at: buttonsandramps.wordpress.com
Twitter: @ramps_and
Instagram: @buttonsandramps
