Jan. 23, 2019 — Beth Wilson was so taken aback when she saw the window display at The White Collection, an independent bridal boutique in her hometown of Portishead, England, that she snapped a picture with her phone and posted it on social media. Already married and not someone who wears dresses anyway, Wilson wasn’t shopping for wedding gowns. Yet, for the first time in quite some time, she saw herself represented in the shop window.
The mannequin wore an off-the-shoulder, high-low gown by House of Mooshki — and used a wheelchair.
Wilson, a 36-year-old artist who uses a wheelchair herself, tweeted a photo of the window and said, “The new wedding shop in town has a wheelchair-using mannequin and it shouldn’t be exciting but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen disability portrayed in a shop window.”
The new wedding shop in town has a wheelchair using mannequin and it shouldn’t be exciting but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen disability portrayed in a shop window. pic.twitter.com/N5sco2fLJf
— Beth Wilson (@doodlebeth) January 9, 2019
“It was so surprising and made me feel represented,” Wilson says. “So often, disabled people feel invisible because we don’t see ourselves in the media much and especially not modeling beautiful clothes.”
Wilson’s tweet quickly went viral, garnering 8,158 retweets and 35,967 likes (and counting), and shining a light on a gaping hole in advertising. Her tweet and The White Collection’s subsequent Instagram post of the window display have sparked an international conversation on the topic.
Among the 190 comments (and counting) on The White Collection’s post are several in which women express what a challenge it is to envision themselves in a wedding gown in their wheelchair.
“As a wheelchair user who has always looked at dresses and [thought] ‘But, would it work in my chair?’ THANK YOU,” @patricialwatts wrote.
View this post on InstagramIt has been a very full on but incredible couple of days here at TWC ❤️ When setting up this window display, we didn’t even think to share on our social media pages or ‘put it out there’ but it seems to have done just that all by itself! We would like to thank everyone for your kind comments about our window- we have been surrounded by so much love and positivity, which is what this industry is all about, right?!���� If this window has done anything, it’s shown us how much of an impact having a wheelchair user in the window has caused, and hopefully as time goes by, things like this will not cause so much of a big response, because there will be a lot more of it around. We didn’t think that our window would get this much attention, but what it really has done is it has opened up a (worldwide!) discussion about inclusivity in this industry, which can only be a good thing!! Thank you so much again for all of your support- Sarah, Laura and the team at TWC xx (Dress- Prunella by @mooshkibridal)
A post shared by •The White Collection• (@thewhitecollection) on Jan 10, 2019 at 10:06am PST
An Instagrammer who uses the handle @dtaudette said, “We love this for the same reason able-bodied women love bridal…we all dream of this day, disabled, abled.”
Commenter @jesserobertaturner added, “As a disabled woman (and wheelchair user), your window display means a lot to me! The greatest barriers I have faced are not physical barriers, but instead people’s negative perceptions of disability. That disabled people are not of value, not sexual-beings, not capable of meaningful relationships. Thank you for helping to dismantle those perceptions.”
It wasn’t only the presence of the wheelchair in the window that earned praise; it was the way it was displayed. “Mobility aids are often portrayed as negative things that people want to hide when actual mobility aids like wheelchairs give us freedom,” Wilson said. “It’s great that they decorated the chair rather than try and hide it away.”
As for shop owners and sisters Laura Allen and Sarah Parker, who borrowed the wheelchair for the display, they didn’t expect so much attention in response to the window, nor did they do it for social media likes, Parker said.
“You don’t want to come into a boutique and wonder ‘Are they looking down on me? Will I be judged?’ ” Parker said. “Every bride is special. It doesn’t matter what your body shape is, your size, whether you are able-bodied or disabled. It’s your day.”
WebMD Article Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD on January 23, 2019© 2019 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
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