This week my daughter also turned the big 1 – 0. Yes, she’s 10 now, and starting to care more about things like fashion and hairstyles. Which brings me to my topic this week – dressing fashionably in a Scoliosis Brace. I’ve been wanting to write on this topic for a while, but am not very fashion-savvy myself. I have noticed that many of the styles out in stores are very brace-friendly – and I’ve been doing some research on the subject. In fact, I was chatting with my professor for my textiles class (I mentioned in a previous post that I went back to school to work toward my Master’s in Apparel Design and Textiles) and we got on the subject of designing apparel for the disabled and the special needs body. She will be a great mentor to me in that area, as she literally wrote a book about the subject many years ago! But, we also talked about simple things that girls can do to dress fashionably, while wearing a brace. Some of her suggestions were to wear patterns on top (to trick the eye and keep it away from the lines of the brace or any unevenness between the shoulders) and to go for ruffles and details along the neckline (again, to detract and hide). She also mentioned picking a sturdy enough fabric that it won’t wear holes from the brace or cling to closely to the brace and emphasize it, but that has a touch of stretch to help it flow over the brace and to cling tightly enough to flatter the figure. Also, what seems to be in fashion now is the layered look with leggings, which is perfect for wearing a brace. I’ve seen a lot of use of sequins (again, to detract the eye). There are all sorts of long tanks under longer, flowing tunics – and belts are back to cinch at the waist. Some nice leggings, with a long cami and tunic on top, with a wide-ish belt at the waist overtop of everything is slimming and the perfect cover for a brace – it’s also comfortable. I’ve included a couple of my daughter’s recent looks – I want to log what she wears as time goes on and put some photos on here for ideas for your girls. And, of course, she wears her bodysuit and brace under everything I post here…she and her best friend (also 10) pick out everything…I don’t get any credit for that! 🙂

