[blindLaw] Bespoke suit design features for blindies or court

[Sanho Steele-Louchart]

Sai,

Congratulations on the marriage.

As for the suit, I'm not sure if you're thinking about representing
yourself or representing others. Please be careful if intending to
represent others while dressed extravagantly. The reality is that
making a negative impression on a judge or jury would negatively
impact your client. I also wouldn't be remotely surprised if judges
would have you leave the courtroom until you were dressed quote
unquote "appropriately."

I'd suggest you might have a trusted sighted person tell you if the
lines of your suit are broken when you put things on interior pockets.
Perhaps broken lines can be mitigated by being bespoke. If not, I'd
wonder what the point is of it being bespoke in the first place.

Warmth,
Sanho

On 3/24/23, Sai via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> I'm getting married soon, and having a bespoke three piece suit made for
> me. I'd also like to wear it in court and other formal settings. In large
> part the design is driven by gender presentation (I'm non-binary)… but
> since I can get the tailors to design and sew more or less whatever I want
> that's in the general ballpark of a suit, I'm also thinking about practical
> or pleasure features, some of which are blindness related.
>
> Do any of you have suggestions as to what features might be nice to have
> (or avoid) in a jacket, waistcoat, or trousers/skirt?
>
> Could be blindness related, practical, style, whatever. (I don't care if
> it's "feminine" or "masculine" or neither.)
>
>
> For context: for me, functionality or personal enjoyment almost always
> trumps traditional normativity (e.g. I wear toeshoes because they give me
> much better ground feel), but I'd still like this suit to come off as
> formal overall, albeit rather unusual.
>
> For example, two blindie things I almost always have on me are a Bluetooth
> wireless earbuds string (for using screen reader on phone) and a pen "mini
> cane" (a metal telescoping pointer/pen, pen size when collapsed and about
> three feet long when extended, made for sighted people to point at things
> in PowerPoint presentations — works well for conference rooms, restaurants,
> familiar homes, etc. when my long cane is a bit cumbersome and I don't need
> to clear obstacles below knee level).
>
> My usual jacket is a Scott-E-Vest, which has tons of pockets. Relevant
> here, it has pen pockets on the inside placket near the front zipper, and a
> channel plus little bungie loops at the back collar for stowing and
> securing earbuds nicely. I think I'll ask the tailors to add these to my
> jacket.
>
> The tailors suggested a sort of combination asymmetric skirt/hakama based
> on Yohji Yamamoto's designs which I kinda like. Since I cane on my right,
> and when I'm walking quickly I sometimes lever my cane against my extended
> leg, I figure the skirt part should be on the right, so that it covers the
> pleats underneath that might otherwise catch on the cane.
>
> Fabric was an example of a tactile pleasure driven choice (and my level of
> tactile sensitivity is probably a blindie thing) — bamboo fabric had a feel
> to it almost like the sensation of soft fluffy cat fur. Of all the fabrics
> the tailors (and their cloth merchant suppliers) had, it was way more
> pleasant than the next best (a very fine wool — lovely stuff, but just not
> the same "this is like dark chocolate for my fingertips" level reflex
> reaction).
>
> Another example of design motivated by blind life is that the jacket will
> have "surgeon's cuffs", i.e. actually used cuff buttons, so that when
> closed, the gap between wrist and cloth is smaller than the width of my
> slimline cane handle. With looser jackets, when I run into something (like
> on everyone's favourite, cobblestones), my cane handle would often catch
> inside my sleeve and hurt my arm or just make it more of a sudden shock;
> with cinched wrists, that's never been a problem.
>
>
> I figured y'all might have some other ideas — things you've noticed that
> you particularly liked or disliked, things you've gotten positive or
> negative comments about from others, etc. I'd appreciate any suggestions
> you may have.
>
> Sincerely,
> Sai
> President, Fiat Fiendum, Inc., a 501(c)(3)
>
> Sent from my mobile phone; please excuse the concision, typos, and
> autocorrect errors.
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-- 
He/Him