Shopping Part II: Shopping for Clothes

My mom has always done my clothes shopping for me, so I never really worried about it. She knew what colors I liked, what size to buy and it seemed that everything she bought always fit and looked nice. But as I began to think about how I was going to get clothes for myself when I became independent, I came up with a blank. I know that there are personal shopping services that will buy things for people, but I wasn’t sure how it all worked.  And what if there wasn’t a personal shopping service where I lived? As all these questions began to swirl in my brain, I sent out an S.O.S. to friends and other visually impaired women in our National Federation for the Blind chapter.

It really surprised me to find that only a small portion of the women used personal shoppers. When I asked why they preferred not to use the service, all of them said it was largely due to the fact that personal shoppers liked to get the information and go pick the items out and bring them to you. I guess that is fine with something like grocery shopping, but shopping for clothing is much more personal. And they said that often times, the clothing did not fit or they didn’t like the texture of the material. They said they preferred to go to the shop and try the clothing on themselves.

Many of the responders said they went with either friends or family members, who would advise them on colors and styles, and tell them if an outfit looked good or not. Sometimes, if no friends or family were available, they recruited another legally blind person (with some sight) from the local NFB chapter to take them shopping and help them pick out things.

We usually find out at an early age what colors look best on us. I look good in blue, yellow and red, but Mom says almost any color looks good with my particular complexion. A friend of mine from the Blind School has red hair, and mom said that she often wore red or purple, which looked atrocious. I don’t think we pay much attention to our clothes until we get a little older and want to be attractive. It’s also important to “fit in” by wearing up-to-date fashions and not just any old thing.

I suppose that if I had to go shopping by myself, I would try to get help at the store from someone, at least to point out colors and styles. Then I would just try them on and see how they “felt”. It is very important to me that my clothes be comfortable; they have to be soft, not stiff or scratchy, and definitely not tight. I hate tight clothes. I don’t even like the stretchy tops that are all the rage these days. They aren’t necessarily tight, but they just feel too snug to me.

I’m not necessarily looking forward to shopping for clothes on my own. Maybe I will finish growing in the next couple of years and Mom can help me buy me a wardrobe before I leave home! And of course, there are always those wonderful “care packages” that parents send to their children who are no longer at home. Mom said they were a life saver for her, and I’m sure they will be for me as well. Thanks goodness for caring parents!!