Since I share so much about style and clothing on here, I thought it might be interesting to talk about what I like to wear through the lens of disability and SMA. For me, SMA has a huge impact on the things I can comfortably wear, and sometimes makes it a bit challenging for me to translate a look in my head into reality. Sometimes, it makes me be creative and have more fun with the way I put together an outfit… and sometimes, it means that I buy multiple versions of the same item, because I’ve finally found something that works for me (see my Nap Dress collection).

Before I talk about the different features I look for in clothing, I want to mention that right now, I basically only wear dresses when I’m leaving the house! The older I’ve gotten, the more and more difficult it has gotten to get in and out of pants and skirts easily and comfortably, and to keep them positioned comfortably on my body. Getting them on and off now requires laying down, and getting them to a comfortable spot so that they didn’t cut into my waist when sitting for four plus hour stretches at a time was just more effort than it was worth. So now, I stick to dresses, which is certainly limiting, but is just so much easier for me and my life.

With that being said, there are still certain things I look for in clothes that I know will work well for me – here are a few of them.

Adjustability

This is the most important thing for me! Clothing that has adjustability built-in is key for me. I know that my body is shaped differently than a “typical” one, and clothes often fit me differently. So anything that makes the clothing able to adapt to my body is important.

One example of this is adjustable straps. I had spinal fusion surgery in middle school, so my torso hasn’t grown since then. Straps are basically always too long for me! (This is why I love my MicroStitch so much, which I talk about in this post.) But being able to tighten them – almost always as short as possible – makes them fit me much better, and saves me from having to use the MicroStich or a safety pin to keep the straps from constantly slipping down my shoulders.

This is also why I love smocking so much. It gives things a little bit of stretch in places where there would otherwise be none! It’s also made purposefully tight – so that it does stretch out a bit when you wear it – which means that it’s more likely to actually fit me. Which brings me to the next thing I look for…

Inclusive Sizing

While most people think of inclusive sizing as a size range extends past an XXL (which, to be clear, I firmly support!), I look for a size range that goes down to XXS. I’ve talked before about how I needed to get a feeding tube to help me gain weight; I still weigh under 100 lbs. I don’t mean to glorify that, but I am small all over – under 5 feet tall – and am a healthy weight for my disability according to my doctors. But it means that weight-wise, I can fit into a lot of kids clothing… but that doesn’t always work for me style-wise, or, frankly, chest-wise! So I really appreciate when brands offer an XXS option, because that’s often all that will fit me without me looking like I’m swimming in the clothes.

Unfortunately, this also often means I have to spend a little more money on clothes. Amazon almost never offers an XXS in their clothing styles, even seeing an XS is lucky there, and Target usually starts at XS, too. If I filter by size on Nordstrom, size XS gives 122 pages of results, and XXS gives 26. That’s a huge jump! And of course, there’s no guarantee that something in my size will work for my other needs, or will be in a style I like. I’m starting from very small pool of options on size alone.

Stretchy Fabric

The fabric of clothes I wear is so important to me. Unless you also have someone dress you, you probably don’t realize how much twisting and pulling and adjusting goes into getting clothes on. Having fabric that has some give to it makes it so, so much easier when someone else is helping you get dressed! Anything that’s too stiff just requires way too much maneuvering to get on my body comfortably.

And fabric matters once the clothes are on, too! It might sound silly, but clothing can actually be super restrictive for me. Anything on my arms that’s too tight, or stiff, or restrictive in any way makes it harder for me to lift my arms and drive my wheelchair. When I’m home, I actually tend to wear short sleeves or tank tops only, because it makes it easier for me to move my arms, but obviously that’s not possible year round in Pittsburgh! So I go for the most lightweight and flexible fabrics so I can keep as much mobility as possible.

Empire Waist and Flared Skirt

Yes, I realize that this sounds incredibly specific, but it’s a blueprint for what I look for. Finding styles that work while seated in my chair can be hard! Anything with too straight of a skirt tends to ride up, making it too short and leaving it all bunched up, which looks and feels weird. Slits that are too high can also be problematic – they might look cute while standing, but when you sit, the slit just stays way open and shows way too much. So skirts that are a bit flared are what i look for – they feel and look the best while seated.

And the empire waist is something that I look for because of my feeding tube. I have what they call a feeding tube “button” in my stomach, and I don’t like it when the waist of a dress hits it. For me, it’s less about appearance and more about comfort – it just doesn’t feel right to have anything too tight squeezing it. So I like a bit of a higher waist, which tends to go in and out of style, trend wise. I can usually tell from a picture or two online if something is going to work or not – I’ve gotten extremely good at identifying different dress silhouettes!

Putting it all together…

If it wasn’t clear yet, by the time I put all of these things together, there aren’t a ton of options left for me. I can usually tell just by looking at something whether or not it will work for me. This is exactly why I have so many Nap Dresses – they’re smocked, the waist flares, and the fabric is lightweight and comfortable! When I find something that works for me, I stock up, because I don’t know how long those styles will stay trendy.

But despite all of this, I do still love fashion and style. Putting together an outfit that I think looks great gives me confidence and gives me that same boost that everyone else experiences – I just have to be a little more creative about it. And I hope that by sharing my experiences, people will see how much more room for improvement still exists in making style inclusive… and maybe someone reading this will be part of changing that in the future!