Since my stroke I have always struggled with my wardrobe. Before my stroke I didn’t have a fantastic wardrobe, it was full of Primark and H&M, mish mash of styles and nothing really went to together but it was fine. Then suddenly my whole body changed, not so much in shape but what my body was able to do.
After my stroke I had 6.5 months in hospital, 9 kg lighter and I was totally at the mercy of what clothes my dad, my boyfriend or friends ferried up to me that week. Trying to get back to independence, I encountered so many challenges to deal in my day to day life being one handed, unbalanced peg legged 25 year old with a shaved head. There were (and still are) so many things I would never have thought would be a problem for someone in my new situation – I thought my wardrobe wouldn’t be a problem – how wrong was I.
Tiring up a drawstring, doing the catch of my bra up, rolling up my sleeves, get a foot that doesn’t move into skinny jeans – to name a few! Problem is I have still maintained my clothes shopping habits, buying single pieces because I liked them or I thought that they would for fill a function but nothing went to together. Plus I had the added problem now, whatever I looked like in a mirror is not what I look like when I’m going around in my everyday life. Even now I really struggle with my appearance and how body looks in things that I wear.
Having felt deflated about the way I looked for 14+ years, I have finally stopped avoiding the problems that make me frustrated my appearance and started the journey to make myself feel happy and confident by tackling my wardrobe.
In the last few years, accessible/adaptive fashion is starting to make a breakthrough in the fashion world but it still has a long way to go. I knew if I wanted (and needed) to have a wardrobe that is totally accessible to me, I was going have to make it – well a good chunk of it.
This year my goal to make a capsule wardrobe with the basics perfected. With my sewing machine and the massive stash of fabric that I have collected personally and from my pervious businesses and second hand clothing from vinted, ebay and charity shops. Experiment with different openings, closures, styles and fabrics, I will make clothes that are totally accessible to me and hope I can give you tricks and tips to make your own accessible clothing.
