[Blindtlk] Identifying Clothes and organization

Sun May 29 18:00:29 UTC 2011

Johanna,

I meant to comment on this during my last post. I, too, am visually 
impaired. I have some partial sight, but I do get mixed up when it comes to 
telling colors apart. It took me a wihle to care or to be fashion conscious 
if you will. LOL. So I understand your situation. I volunteer for hospice, 
and there were a few times where I had to get dressed up for events, 
speaking engagements, and a funeral once. I found myself going to Walmart at 
the last minute to get a new outfit because I didn't know what went together 
in my closet. That's when I realized I needed to get more organized. It's 
fun to go out and buy new clothes when you can, but it's ridiculous to do it 
only if your reason is that you're unorganized and aren't sure what goes 
together, as was the case for me. The thing that really motivated me to do 
so, was preparing for a Kid Rock cruise that I went on in April to Cozumel. 
I wanted to match and look marvelous for him. LOL. :) So starting in January 
or February, I had someone come over once a week or so, and we worked for 
two or three hours on clothes. Not just because of the cruise or because of 
hospice events I was going to, but because I needed it in general to know 
what went together on a daily basis. Before this, I would wear basic things 
that I knew went together. I would wear blue jeans a lot, but now I have 
more options and that's exactly what I wanted. Now I can feel much more 
confident getting dressed and knowing things match and I don't have to wear 
blue jeans all the time every day. I'm glad I had something to motivate me, 
otherwise I would just have the thought and it might not get done as fast. 
Now, my new goal for next year's cruise, is to lose weight and fit into a 
bikini. :)

I also had someone go through things with me and I separated my T-shirts 
into ones that I could still wear out in public, and ones that I couldn't be 
caught dead leaving the house in, due to stains or any other problem. I 
threw a bit out due to them being old and/or stained. I love being more 
organized now. So when I get new clothes in the future, I plan to ask 
someone that day what color each article of clothing is, and I plan to label 
it right then and there before I forget and hang it up. I don't ever want to 
get unorganized like that again.

I would be interested in knowing what others do to organize their clothes 
and their closets.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chasity Jackson" <chasityvanda at charter.net>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2011 12:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Identifying Clothes and organization

> Hi there. I have recently done this myself. I did get some braille tags 
> and I labeled all the clothes I could with the Braille tags. If there were 
> colors the Braille tags did not include, I got some tape that goes into 
> your clothes and I had my very good friend and room mate Terry Braille 
> them using a slate and stylus. I used a safety pin to pin the tags or tape 
> on. The tags already have little holes where the safety pins can go, but 
> if I used tape, I first used a hole punch to punch a hole in the tape and 
> then I stuck the pin through. I tried to do it without punching a hole, 
> but the tape was very tough and I was afraid of sticking myself in the 
> process of getting the pin through. I also organized my closet by Casual 
> shirts, dressy shirts, casual pants, dressy pants, jackets, dresses, etc. 
> At this store called the Container Store, they have closet type organizers 
> where you can do that. When you come to one you know you're at the next 
> section. So I used those to divide the clothes up into categories. I put 
> the label inside the shirt or pants if there was a tag there. If not, I 
> would put the label on the bottom of the shirt, and then when you wear it, 
> you obviously remove the label so it isn't showing. Put it in a safe place 
> where you know where it is and then make sure you remember to put it back 
> in the appropriate article of clothing at the end of the day. Then, when 
> you have all your clothes labeled, ask someone whose opinion you trust to 
> help you make a list of all the colors that could go together in your 
> wardrobe. You don't have to necessarily have to say this shirt could go 
> with these ten pairs of pants, etc. But just make a list of colors that go 
> together in general, so when you see two colors in your closet, you'll 
> know whether or not they go together. For shoes, I got two of those back 
> of the door shoe racks. Any store should sell them, but I got mine at the 
> container store. Then, there are these things from Maxi Aids called say 
> what. They are also used for labeling. So I got as many of those as I 
> thought I'd need, and then labeled them with dymo tape. So, I would grab 
> one of those, for example, label it brown with dymo tape, and put it in 
> the pocket of this shoe rack that goes on the back of my door. And 
> obviously I would put a pair of brown shoes or sandles in that pocket, and 
> when I would go to find shoes, I would know they're brown. I had a sighted 
> person help me with all this. It has taken hours and we're still not even 
> completely done. We're getting there though. I hope this helps. Please let 
> me know if you might have other questions.
> Chasity
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Johanna Baccan" <24kjo at optonline.net>
> To: "Blind Talk mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2011 11:19 PM
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Identifying Clothes and organization
>
>
>> To All:
>>
>> After hearing of some of the clothing  mishaps, which happen to the 
>> sighted
>> and unsighted.  I wanted to ask how do you organize your clothes.  Trying 
>> to
>> come up with new ideas.  Do some of you number your clothes?  Use the
>> braille tags?  I myself am visually impaired and is realizing that I 
>> should
>> be more organized in my clothing.  At times it is hard to tell the
>> difference between black, dark brown, and navy.  Also knowing what colors
>> are in prints, plaids, etc.  Also I hear that the braille tags do not 
>> have
>> enough of colors.  Any suggestions?  New Ideas?    Thanks for your time.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Johanna
>>
>>
>>
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>
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