Clothing and dressing aids — adaptive fashion that preserves dignity

This article provides general information about adaptive clothing and dressing aids. An occupational therapist can assess your parent's specific dressing challenges and recommend solutions. Clothing choices should balance ease of dressing with your parent's preferences and dignity.

My mother stood in front of her closet looking at a blouse she'd worn for years. The buttons were tiny. Her hands shook with arthritis. What used to take two minutes now took ten, and she'd be frustrated before she even got dressed. Getting older meant her favorite clothes were becoming inaccessible. That seemed unfair.

Dressing shouldn't be a battle. Getting dressed is how your parent starts their day. It's an act of self-care and independence. When arthritis, tremors, weakness, or limited mobility make dressing difficult, the process becomes stressful instead of something your parent does without thinking. The solution isn't necessarily giving up favorite clothes. Sometimes it's finding alternatives or adaptive techniques that make existing clothes work.

Dressing Challenges and Their Sources

Your parent might struggle with dressing for several reasons.

Arthritis makes it painful to grip small objects like buttons or zippers. Hands that are stiff don't bend the way needed to manipulate closures. Limited fine motor control makes buttons too difficult. Arthritis also limits range of motion, making it hard to reach arms behind the back or to bend over to pull on socks and shoes.

Stroke or other neurological problems might affect one side of the body. Your parent might have weakness on one side that makes getting that arm through a sleeve difficult or impossible. Tremors from Parkinson's disease make manipulating buttons or zippers frustrating and slow.

Weakness from prolonged illness, immobility, or age itself makes it hard to stand for long enough to pull on pants or to lift arms high enough to put on a shirt.

Limited range of motion from various sources makes reaching arms over the head difficult, reaching down to pull socks on nearly impossible, or reaching behind to fasten something in the back unmanageable.

Balance problems make dressing dangerous when your parent needs to stand on one leg to put on pants. They might fall in the process of dressing.

Cognitive issues might mean your parent doesn't remember how to put clothes on in the correct order or forgets which clothing item goes where.

Vision problems make it hard to line up buttons with buttonholes or see where fasteners are.

Each challenge has different solutions.

Adaptive Clothing

Clothing designed specifically for people with limited mobility or dexterity exists and has improved tremendously. Magnetic closures replace buttons. Your parent simply aligns the magnets and they snap together. This is dramatically easier than buttoning for someone with arthritis or tremors.

Velcro closures work similarly. Your parent presses the two sides together instead of manipulating buttons.

Front-closing bras use hook-and-eye closures in the front instead of the back, eliminating the need to reach behind the back.

Pants and skirts with elastic waistbands eliminate the need to manage zippers and buttons. Your parent can pull them on without complicated fasteners.

Shirts with short sleeves or rolled sleeves eliminate the need to pull sleeves all the way down. They're less material to manipulate.

Loose-fitting clothing is generally easier to get on than tight clothing. It requires less flexibility and less force to pull on.

Some adaptive clothing is obviously medical and doesn't look like regular clothes. Other adaptive clothing looks completely normal. Brands now make adaptive lines that are fashionable and don't announce that they're for people with disabilities. Your parent can look like themselves while wearing clothing that's actually functional for their body.

Hospital gowns or extremely loose clothing might be necessary for someone with severe limitations, but that shouldn't be the first option. Many people with real dressing challenges can wear normal-looking clothes if the right features are included.

Dressing Aids and Techniques

When clothing itself isn't the limiting factor, dressing aids can help. Button hooks have a loop that goes through the buttonhole. Your parent inserts the button and pulls it through. This works for people whose hands are too weak or stiff to manipulate buttons directly.

Zipper pulls attach to zippers to make them easier to grasp and pull. Your parent doesn't need fine motor control. They just need to grip and pull.

Sock aids are small devices that hold socks open so your parent can slide their foot in without bending down. The user then pulls on a cord to pull the sock up their leg. Someone who can't bend to reach their feet can still put on their own socks.

Shoehorns with long handles let your parent put on shoes without bending. They slide the shoehorn in to help their heel into the shoe, then pull by the long handle.

Dressing sticks with a hook on one end help your parent pull up pants or reach articles of clothing without bending. Your parent stands, uses the stick to hook the pants, and pull them up.

Reacher grabbers extend your parent's reach. Instead of bending to pick something up from the floor, your parent uses the reacher. This works for grabbing clothing too.

Getting dressed in the right position helps. Sitting while putting on socks, shoes, and pants is safer and easier than standing on one leg. Your parent should sit to get dressed when possible. Sitting on the bed while putting on the upper body clothes works too.

Some people benefit from a dressing sequence that works with their limitations. If one side is weaker, that arm goes into a sleeve first when putting on a shirt. When removing it, the weaker arm comes out last.

The Emotional Piece of Dressing

Getting dressed is deeply tied to identity and dignity. Your parent probably has a sense of style, favorite colors, or clothing items that feel like "them." Losing the ability to wear those clothes can feel like losing part of themselves.

Finding adaptive clothing that matches your parent's style and personality helps preserve that sense of self. If your parent loves color, there are colorful adaptive clothes. If they prefer classic styles, those exist too. If they value being fashionable, there are adaptive options that look contemporary.

Offering to help with dressing should be done respectfully. Your parent might accept help with shoes and socks but want to manage the shirt independently. Honor what they want to do themselves. Your role is support, not taking over tasks they can still do.

Some people feel shame about needing help with dressing. It feels too intimate, too exposing. Treating dressing practically and matter-of-factly helps. You're not judging your parent's body. You're helping them get dressed the same way a healthcare provider would.

Privacy and dignity matter. Close the door. Don't have conversations with other people during dressing. Treat it as a normal part of your parent's day, not something to be embarrassed about.

Seasonal Considerations

Winter brings different challenges than summer. Heavy coats are hard to manage. Boots with zippers or complicated closures are difficult. Layers that need to be put on in a specific order might be confusing for someone with cognitive issues.

Simpler winter options help. Lightweight jackets instead of heavy coats. Slip-on boots instead of lace-up. Fewer layers that still provide warmth.

Summer means lighter clothes, which is generally easier. Your parent still needs to be sun-protected. Lightweight long-sleeved shirts in breathable materials allow protection without heaviness.

Special Situations

For people in wheelchairs, clothing that works well while sitting is important. Tight pants are uncomfortable to sit in. Longer shirts might drag when your parent transfers. Working with your parent to find clothing that works both sitting and standing helps.

For people with incontinence, clothing should be easy to remove quickly and should hide any accidents. Pants with easy fasteners are important. Darker colors might be practical, though respecting your parent's clothing preferences matters too.

For people receiving medical treatment with tubes or ports, accessible clothing helps. Your parent might have a port under the chest, which means avoiding tight shirts that cover that area. Your parent might have urinary catheters that need discreet clothing that's easy to manage. Medical centers sometimes have specialists who can suggest appropriate clothing.

Building a Practical Wardrobe

Your parent doesn't need dozens of outfits. A smaller wardrobe of pieces that are easy to manage, fit well, and can be mixed and matched works better than lots of complicated clothes. Choosing items in similar color families makes combinations easier. Choosing items without complicated fasteners reduces daily stress.

Hand-washing clothes that your parent loves and ensuring they're available helps maintain their sense of style. If your parent has always worn a certain color or type of clothing, continuing that as much as possible supports their identity.

Comfortable shoes that are easy to put on become essential. Your parent might have worn heels for decades, but that might be impossible now. Finding comfortable shoes that your parent finds acceptable is a practical compromise.

Your parent should have comfortable clothes for home and clothes they feel presentable in for going out. This distinction helps them maintain dignity and their sense of engaging with the world beyond their home.

Independence in Dressing

Supporting your parent's ability to get dressed independently, or as independently as possible, matters. If they can manage most of dressing and just need help with shoes, that's still your parent dressing themselves with minimal assistance.

Giving them time to dress without rushing preserves their independence. Your parent might take three times as long as you would. They need that time. Building it into the schedule prevents you from rushing them or taking over.

Celebrating small victories helps. "You got your shirt on without any trouble today" acknowledges that getting dressed is an accomplishment when it requires effort.

Dressing is one of the first adult responsibilities we manage independently. Losing the ability to do it can feel like a significant loss of independence. Finding clothing and techniques that make dressing possible, and supporting your parent in doing what they still can, preserves that independence as much as circumstances allow.

An occupational therapist can assess your parent's specific dressing challenges and recommend both clothing options and dressing aids. Many adaptive clothing brands exist and continue to expand their offerings to include fashionable options. Dressing aids are inexpensive and widely available through medical supply stores and online retailers. If dressing becomes unsafe, such as your parent falling while dressing, discuss this with their doctor or occupational therapist. Some situations require changing your parent's clothing choices for safety even if they prefer something different.