Dress for Success
By Hilburn, Bonnie; PN: Paraplegia News, Vol. 63, No. 12, pp. 58-60Publication Date: December 2009
Article discusses business apparel for women wheelchair users with paraplegia. Online resources for clothing recommended include EzineArticles (http://ezenearticles.com/) and, for those who sew their own clothes, http://www.independentliving.org/, which offers free patterns for printing. The article recommends a basic business wardrobe of at least one well-tailored suit and solid color dresses in basic neutral colors that can be worn with the suit jacket. Pants should be bought in the tall size, as they are shorter when the wearer is seated; for the same reason, skirts and dresses should reach below the knee. Also recommended for easy dressing are skirts or dress pants with elastic waistbands, pencil-style skirts which do not get caught in the wheels of the chair, and pullover shirts. Shoes with rubber soles and straps across the front are preferred as they stay best on the foot pedals; duct tape can also be applied to shoe soles to keep feet from sliding off. Finally, the author recommends choosing the clothes that are to be worn the next day before going to bed and placing them on the wheelchair. The article is included in a special section of the issue on clothing for wheelchair users which also features a resource list of adaptive clothing providers.
Published by: PVA Publications (Website:http://www.pvamagazines.com)
Paralyzed Veterans of America (Web Site: http://www.pva.org )
