Crippled Fashion (Midterm Project)

Thank you Caelin for posting this amazing paper with the class! I have never heard about this concept before (I believe fashion choices for disabled folks in China is quite rare and limited) and it's nice to read about how people used their wit, imagination, and creativity to build unique fashion styles and to showcase their identity and personality!

I am not a chic person, my parents even suggest me acquire some cosmetics and nice clothes. In a world that's rife with capitalism and consumptionism, choices are overwhelming and one could feel lost among a sea of products. But the situation is opposite for the disabled community (just as most objects are designed for righties and not lefties, which should change too).

The images are very pretty, we don't focus on the physical disability that may restrain their movement, but the confidence and charisma that radiates from within. I wonder how developing adaptive clothing could establish own brands and achieve independence from major brands. Maybe that could help build up options, colors and sizes to choose from?

Again, its such an interesting paper and a nice read! Thank you so much for broadenig my horizon. I will definitely research deeper in this branch and dig out more fun and inspring stories behind the scene!

I really love your project! I found it so interesting and I definitely learned so much about disability fashion. I particularly liked how you highlighted a lot of the cons of the fashion industry in general. It can truly be so toxic, especially toward disabled communities, which you pointed out. It's just so exclusive so often on so many different levels. I also appreciated when you brought up how in the media, our views of what is trendy and fashionable can become so skewed. A lot of it has to do with the harsh societal standards in our world and if the person wearing the clothes has a body that perfectly matches said standards. This almost always entirely excludes disabled people, trans people, and fat people, as well as other marginalized groups. 

The quote from Sinéad Burke really jumped out at me. I never thought about clothes in this way- that we have an intimate connection to them and that most of us are legally required to wear them, which makes it more upsetting that fashion can be so exclusive and inaccessible. 

Overall, I really enjoyed reading your project. I thought it was cool that you pointed out how disability fashion challenges a lot of the negative societal views of disability. This has definitely sparked my curiosity about the topic and I'm going to look into it more.