Synopsis:
1. Dress to appear attractive and cheerful. Try to look like someone a stranger would like to meet and chat with. Bright colors help create that impression.
2. Clothing needs to be easy to put on and take off. EASILY!
3. Personal experience has taught me cotton blends are easiest to wash. Never choose something to buy something wear which needs ironing. Warmth is added with sweaters, lap robes and layers.
4. Working out a simple dress style to be sewn by a dressmaker has worked out best for me. I have roughly the same dress in summer and winter fabrics and colors. Prefer light weight fabrics in the summe, heavier for colder times.
5. My personal preference is to load on the costume jewelry. Creating a lot of interest around the face and hands keeps them from noticing my legs don’t work.
6. Shoes are now my least attractive apparel. I wear clunky shoes because I need to support my ankles and protect the tops of my feet from the things I drop on them. It took me a while to come to grips with the fact I’d have to wear ugly shoes. Now I am about to change to diabetic shoes. So far, I don’t even know what they look like.
7. A hat is necessary when I go outside. The hat and a pair of sunglasses protect me from insects, heat, sun glare. When I have the time I carefully choose accessories for the hat. It doesn’t take much to change a plain jane hat to something colorful and fun. I try to have a hat to go with each outfit.
8. My hair is cut short. This allows it to wave and curl a little bit. It also fits under my hat better. Short hair doesn’t show the marks from a night with my sleep apnea equipment. It looks neat, well-kempt and best of all, is very easy to care for.
9. When first injured, you might try shorts and pants made with Microfiber elastic at the waist, as suggested in the book “Spinal Cord Injury and the Family.” It also is suggested that during physical therapy, clothing which is two or three sizes larger than you regularly wear would be most useful.
Looks are as important after the injury as before. How you look determines how you are treated.
Before the injury I worked as an executive secretary, then as an administrative assistant, finally as a company vice president. This required not only good grooming but the latest styles in clothes and hair.
After the accident I changed my outlook. It was an eye-opening experience to realize how little all the frou-frou meant to the people who really cared about me. But it remained important.
I no longer try to follow the styles, but I do all I can to look as presentable as possible. Sytlish dressing becomes difficult after your figure has changed. Styles also became less important when I needed to accomodate my stoma devices.
Dressing needed to be efficient, fast and conform to the new circumstances. Yes, and it was okay to be a bit nonconformist or eccentric (since that was the real me anyway.) For example, raising my arms for an extended period of time to curl my hair is exhausting now .. so my haircuts need to lend themselves to a “wash and go” lifestyle.
Weight has been a problem since the time of my injury. I gained about 10 pounds before I came home and a pound or two a year every since. This complicated the search for appropriate clothing. As muscle tone was lost, it become discouraging — my “shape” disappeared. The urostomy occurred about 10 years after the injury and about 25 years in the colostomy was performed. Covering my “outside plumbing: was now a consideration.
The goal is to cover my “lumps and bumps” yet project who I am … essentially a cheerful person who enjoys life and the people around me. Bright colors and lots of accessories around the face are key. Whatever I can do, I do to make the legs and feet look normal, but not call attention to themselves
When all else failed, I used imagination. Searching for fabrics that project a happy image are now a hobby of mine. The staff at the local Beverly Fabrics are used to seeing me browsing through the stacks of material.
Working with a talented local seamstress, a design for a dress that covers all my “lumps and bumps” was worked out. We’ve made it up in countless patterns and colors, for winter and summer. The dresses are made of wrinkle-free, easily-washed cotton.
The basic dress style features a loose fit and is easy to slip into in bed. Full sleeves, a long skirt. lots of fabric (about 4.5 yards) and an empire waistline — and it’s comfy. The design features pattern on top, plain color on the bottom. I’ve considered making a skirt in one color and lots of tops, but when I transfer in and out of bed, it moves around … feeling uncomfortable and looking a bit rumpled.
Cool weather has me digging out my shawls. It is easier to throw on a shawl than to struggle into a sweater. When it is downright cold, I do wear sweaters plus large heavy shawls. I’ve discovered I love shawls. Happily they come in every color and so many different fabrics. Why did we ever stop wearing them? Or did we?
Good haircuts (short hair is much easier to manage) jewelry, scarves and shoes help make the total image more attractive.
Send questions to Sofiea Clerico