How Blind People Match Clothing

Many feel that it is impossible for a blind person to match his or her own clothing, as they are not able to see to know what they are doing. Such people believe that blind people need constant assistance to not only look presentable but to also match their clothing. This is far from the truth, as with some small adaptations, blind people can put together outfits that are stunning and fashionable, just the same as the rest of the world.

The first way that blind people are able to match clothing is through the use of plastic Braille labels. These Braille labels are either sewn into the clothing, which is usually what is done with new clothing today that do not have actual tags but have the printed tags, or to go an easier route, the Braille labels are safety pinned beneath the tag so as to avoid irritation of the skin and being stuck by the pins. Some choose to sew the labels beneath the tags to keep from being stuck by the pins, especially in cases where blind parents need to do this for the clothing of their small children. On these Braille tags, there are abbreviations of colors and appearances, such as gn standing for green, rd standing for red, bl standing for blue, ppl standing for purple, pl standing for plaid, gy standing for gray, bk standing for black, yw standing for yellow, and or standing for orange, just to give you an example as to how the Braille labeling system works. These abbreviations are pretty universal across the entire English speaking blind community. The system will vary in other parts of the world.

Another adaptation that blind people use to match clothing is through making different types of stitching patterns to represent different colors and appearances. For instance, a vertically stitched line in the back of the clothing where the tag is represents blue, a line going across represents black, two lines right next to one another in a vertical direction represents orange, two lines going across represents green, and yellow would have no stitching at all. Unlike the above method, which is more uniformed, the stitching patterns are subject to change depending on the preferences of each individual.

Blind people also match their clothing through the use of puffy paint. This type of paint, which is normally used to paint designs on fabrics, can be purchased at any craft store, a fabric store, or at any Wal-Mart or Target. Those using this method would have different shapes painted onto their clothing to represent different colors and appearances. For example, a square would equal plaid, a line going across equals black, a line going vertical equals blue, and so forth. Just like the stitching method, this method changes depending upon the individual. Some even go as far as having someone paint little fancy designs to represent certain colors.

There are many more ways that blind people are able to match clothing, but because of time, it would be impossible to go over them all. Each adaptation depends upon the creativity of the individual. Nevertheless, the job gets done, and they are able to walk out of their house looking just as good and presentable as their sighted peers. Best of all, no assistance is needed.