In Conversation: Fashioning Inclusivity: integrating style, fit and adaptability

Brown, Ellie Louise, Cili, Soljana, Cornell, Nica, Dewey, Chamiah, Gooding, Joanne, Kealy-Morris, Elizabeth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2843-1916, McBee-Black, Kerri and Poage, Jennifer (2024) In Conversation: Fashioning Inclusivity: integrating style, fit and adaptability. In: ADH International Conference 2023: Ad-Dressing the Margins: Historically underrepresented fashion and style, 27 October 2023 - 28 October 2023, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

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Abstract

This panel will give voice to people with disabilities (PWDs) who need access to adapted, inclusive clothing to aid in getting dressed, and may require a unique fit due to their specific disability. Historically, PWDs this is a group given little mention within fashion studies. The desire to fit into the clothing styles of their social groups often means their bodies and orthotics become uncomfortably noticeable. However, adaptive clothing is often unfashionably utilitarian, so each day they are twice marked as ‘not fitting in’ (Woodward, 2005). The chair, Dr. Elizabeth Kealy-Morris, has a spinal deformity and has published on the stress of dressing an orthotic-clad body (Kealy-Morris, 2023). She will be joined by accomplished designers, writers, strategists, and academics in the inclusive and adaptive fashion space: Ellie Louise Brown, Dr. Soljana Çili, Nica Cornell, Chamiah Dewey, Dr. Jo Gooding, Dr. Kerri McBee-Black, and Dr. Jennifer Poage.