I can tell you from my own experience, from going from a healthy 14 year old blonde white girl to a very disabled-looking individual, you really see two vastly different life perspectives; and it’s heart-breaking. Some people will never like someone with a disability no matter how hard you try. It just won’t happen.

So when Laura Maffei, author of her just-finished memoir, How I Tried to Hide Muscular Dystrophy with Tight Jeans and Makeup (also known as Girl with a Secret. She’s currently looking for representation), was instructed by her parents to hide her condition (using control-top pantyhose, makeup, and a bag of excuses), I can’t actually say it was completely bad parenting. There were protecting her from negative life experiences for as long as they could. I can’t say I blame them. But Maffei knew there were other reasons her parents wanted her to hide it, the main reason chiefly being: Their over-concern with physical appearances.

“My mom always told us to hold in our stomachs and, from when we were 13, to wear makeup outside the house.” (And after being diagnosed) “I‘d even not eat or drink anything on days I was going to the beach with friends, to lying to my gym teachers about how many situps I did, to refusing to tell even close friends why I was walking with a labored gait in college.” “All that hiding is exhausting,” she says. “And even though my story is a specific one, I think women of all physical abilities feel compelled to hide or change things about their physical selves, things of which they needn’t be ashamed, but they are because our culture tells us to be.”

Laura eventually came “out” of the disability closet, and now gives speeches on her journey of self-discovery, in addition to writing memoir. Also, stop by her blog, Everybody’s a Beauty, where she’s compiling a collection of user-submitted experiences on disability and beauty, and the struggle that can come with that, which needless to say has become a topic close to her heart. Add yours here! 

Michelle Obama is just one of the many fans of this skin care line with a conscious. More…

I think the side ponytail needs to be bought back with a vengeance. Here’s my look for today, complete with my AWESOME fake glasses (Hot Topic) and deconstructed Bowie tshirt. Here are some cool sites I highly recommend for further exploring this oh-so tubular ’80s hairdo:

- How to do a side ponytail

- Edgy side ponytail tutorial on YouTube

Happy Friday!

- Tiff

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The quite rad David Lega, a Paralympian swimmer hailing from Sweden (and his accent is adorable), began LegaWear a few years ago. Last week they just launched their brand new site that includes a cool “Design Your Clothes” area, that has a Flash widget so you can see your clothing creations as you move along in the online design process. I partiularly love this new addition to their site, as it really makes you feel like you’re a fashion designer. Maybe not a designer from Project Runway, but close. Also, LegaWear may be based in Sweden, but they’re a truly international company with many close ties here in the USA, and are looking to expand here as well.

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After purchasing a measuring tape from Target for a cool $2, I had my attendant help me do the measurements. LegaWear’s site includes a handy “How to Measure” area that was a lifesafer in this process…because my attendant and I were clueless on any measurements past measuring the bust (afterall every girl knows how to measure that!). It was actually quite fascinating seeing all the measurements that are required to get a suit fitted, from the hip to ankle measurement (a smart way to get a proper inseam measurement for a wheelchair-user) to the “bottom” measurement. But I’m all about putting in the effort for the desired results, and I know that the more exact measurements they ask for, the better the fit. It only took about 10 minutes to get them done, and I input them into my profile.

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LegaWear sells suits for both men and women, and will soon be offering a skirt option. I ordered a BEAUTIFUL grey suit (with pants), and made it as simple as possible because I want my suit to be the easel, the perfect backdrop for the shirt and accessories I plan on additing to it. Grey is also versatile and will let me ”change it up” style-wise. They do offer fun colors. My friend Madonna Long at Chloe Magazine ordered a hot pink suit from LegaWear recently. Yeah, she’s awesome

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All of LegaWear’s suits are made in Thailand, which is why their prices are so reasonable (crazy good). This suit is definitely an investment piece and will certainly last many, many years. Maybe I’ll even pass it on to my future daughters?

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Look for more blogs about my first experience ordering a custom suit (and LegaWear’s other custom clothes) in the coming weeks!

I’m featured on TheGloss blog! I love this blog.  Check out the article here.

We live, we love  

And we don’t give free rides.

A podcast for fabulous disabled women. Coming soon to BeautyAbility.

(for past shows click here)

- Tiff