Deceiving Looks

My latest architecture project was themed “Mobility Meets Strategy,” so I decided to research how the immobile become mobile. I discovered a fashion designer, Izzy Camilleri, who designed an entire line of clothing for people restricted by wheelchairs. I found a video demonstrating how the clothing was engineered for easy use. In the video, the young, wheelchair-bound woman demonstrating the clothing, praises Camilleri and thanks her for designing something fashionable for disabled people. When I go shopping for clothes, I don’t have to worry about buying something stylish because I know the option will be there for me; however, disabled people aren’t so lucky. So many other people have conditions that affect their clothing options, so why is Camilleri the first person to incorporate fashion with versatility? Disabled people have the same feelings as “normal-bodied” people. People with “abnormal” looks desire to dress fashionably, have expressive hairstyles, love, and be loved. The desire for these emotions surfaces in Lucy Grealy’s “Autobiography of a Face.” Even though Grealy’s body is normal, her facial bone structure has been effected by a major surgery from childhood, and she struggles with finding her identity, especially aesthetically. “I was secretly hoping that in the process some potential lover might accidentally notice I was wearing my private but beautiful heart on my stained and fraying sleeve,” is proof that Grealy knew her personality and wished others would see it; not her face. Another point in the plot where Grealy realizes that she could have potentially romantic relationships she states, “I was never going to have anyone want me in that way, so I mustn’t desire such a thing.” People whose bodies are marked as different go through this every day. They desire the fashion, attention, and feelings that able-bodied people have. Grealy recognizes at a young age that because she looks different, she may not be desired by males or even looked at as a sexual being. It’s one struggle to go through life disapproving of one’s own looks but with an able body. It’s a completely different life when one’s body or appearance is disapproved of by society and restricts daily life.