Over the course of our lives, our bodies change and we can slip in and out of varying degrees of ableness as our situation changes – from sprained ankles to more serious injuries, to fluctuations in our weight and health. If we are lucky, our bodies will inevitably age. All these things naturally have an impact on the clothes we wear and how we get dressed every day.
Fashion academic Dr Elizabeth Kealy-Morris describes negotiating this as “body dressing work”. Drawing on her memories of getting dressed as a 10-year-old with scoliosis, she describes the joy she found in clothes that were both beautiful and functional – items that covered the orthotic brace she wore to correct the curvature in her spine, while allowing her to fit in with her peers.
