Jen Track 1

Fashion is the art of expressing oneself through clothing and accessories. In the past, discriminatory laws called the Ugly Laws kept disabled people off the streets. This had a negative impact on them and their families. The clothes we wear can affect our cognitive processes, but disabled people are often excluded from this. Many disabled individuals make their own clothes because most brands are not inclusive. Brands need to involve disabled people in designing clothing for them. Fashion is the art of applying design, aesthetic, clothing, construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories, and can help people find individuality and feel more comfortable in their skin. The Ugly Laws were repealed in 1974, attempting to end disability discrimination. Ugly Laws were put into place to keep people who were mutated, maimed, or in any way deformed, or in a proper form of a person off the streets. Many disabled people were often fined for being out in public, and on the streets where able-bodied people could see them. This had a huge negative impact not only on disabled people, but also their families, as a lot of disabled individuals were brutally hurt or murdered. In-Cloth Cognition is the name given to the psychological effect that describes the influence of the clothes we wear on our cognitive processes. Essentially, it describes how our clothes and appearance affect our cognitive processing system. Studies show that the way we dress can influence our level of confidence, attention, abstract thinking abilities, and even work habits. People with disabilities do not get this opportunity. A lot of the time, disabled people make their own clothes because most brands are not inclusive. We can see that with this quote, perhaps the root of the problem is that people with disabilities are rarely involved in the concept of clothing designed for them. We are seeing more and more brands trying to get it right, but often they miss the mark because they are missing the lived experience.