Adaptive and Sensory Friendly Clothing Shoes, and Accessories
Adaptive clothing is clothing designed specifically to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities, mobility issues, sensory issues or other medical conditions that may affect their ability to dress themselves or wear conventional clothing.
It is designed with features that prioritize comfort and functionality. It could include easy closures made from Velcro or easy zippers, adjustable straps, and openings to accommodate medical devices or feeding tubes. Adaptive clothing is important as it empowers people with disabilities to dress independently and reduces the challenges faced with traditional clothing.
By providing clothing options that cater to various body types and abilities, adaptive clothing promotes inclusivity in the fashion industry. It recognizes that individuals with disabilities are an important part of society and should have access to clothing that meets their unique needs. Adaptive clothing options are becoming more stylish and varied, allowing individuals to express their personal style and preferences. This is crucial for everyone's mental and emotional well-being, regardless of their physical abilities.
Everyday Clothing
Kids
The Cat & Jack line at Target has a ton of cute, affordable clothing that offers a whole range of options including dresses with a kangaroo pouch in the front for abdominal access, pajamas featuring an insulin pocket, and even adaptable jeans that feature a side zipper closure and a wheelchair-friendly construction in soft fabric. All Cat & Jack’s clothing is tagless, featuring flat seams and soft cotton-blend fabric that provides a smooth and comfortable sensory-friendly feel.
Kozie Clothes was created by a pediatric Occupational Therapist after she realized there were few options for therapeutically effective, stylish, and well-fitting clothing for kids and babies with special needs. They offer a line of unisex compression shirts and bottoms which are made of comfy 4-way stretch fabric. It can be worn as an outer or inner garment while providing deep pressure calming and organizing sensory input.
They also offer weighted vests, sensory friendly shorts and skirts, temperature control shirts, fidget shirts, and clothing for easy access to G-Tubes. They even have seamless easy-on socks for sensory sensitivity and fine motor skills.
Parker and Talia believe less is more. All their kids’ clothes are tag-less, seam-less, and gender-less. All their fabrics are bamboo-based which is naturally anti-bacterial UV ray protectant, hypo-allergenic, temperature controlling, and super soft which is great for sensory sensitivities.
Adults and Kids
Patti + Ricky offers an inclusive, adaptable shopping experience for adults and kids with and without disabilities, chronic conditions, patients, seniors, and caregivers. They offer a whole line of compression clothing for kids, elastic waist pants and jeans that make it easy to wear orthotics and AFOs, adaptive skirts, and even Braille shirts. They offer a whole line of adaptive accessories including pull on socks, Velcro belts, insulin belts, and more.
They also offer adult clothing including adaptive activewear, jeans and pants, outerwear, workwear, and more. They even offer accessories for adults including wheelchair bags, belts, socks, neckties, and more.
Primary offers no labels and no slogans clothing with super soft and sustainable fabrics. They offer clothing for newborns through adulthood. All the clothes come in a variety of fun colors and patterns, but they have simple neutral colors as well.
JCPenney has a whole line of adaptive clothing from kids to adults. They have pants that have adaptive adjustable waistbands and hook-and-loop closures for easy dressing. They also have pants that are easy to get on with pull-on loops for wheelchair users. They offer shirts with Velcro and easy snaps. The best of all is everything is affordable.
Comfort on the Spectrum is an inclusive brand that takes the body's senses into careful consideration, using only the softest bamboo fabric, flat seam stitching and avoiding all the annoying things like tags, buttons, zips & plastic graphics. Their clothes are perfect for anyone with Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, ADHD, or anyone who has sensitive skin. They offer shorts, T-shirts, leggings, jumpsuits, and nightdresses.
No Limbits is a disability-owned business that provides adaptive clothing for adults with the mission of increasing comfort, confidence, and independence for those with a disability or sensory challenges. No Limbits provides accessible clothing at an accessible price point.
They offer pants for anyone with a lower limb difference that makes traditional pants hard to wear or uncomfortable including those with prosthetics, leg brace, knee braces, ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) and lymphedema. They also offer an entire line of sensory friendly clothing as well as a line that is designed for people in wheelchairs.
Befree offers adaptive pants for both kids and adults. Their patented design makes dressing and undressing safer, easier, and more comfortable. Their zipOns open and unzip completely on both sides of the legs with zippers spanning waist to hem. They can be put on and taken off easily while standing, lying down, or from a sitting position without pulling up through the legs like traditional pants. zipOns open from the bottom as needed to accommodate casts, braces, and other medical equipment, making them ideal for post-surgery and injury recovery.
Shoes, Accessories, and Underwear
Bombas figured out all the issues people dislike about socks and t-shirts including seams, pilling, and no-show socks that don’t slip. They have a seamless toe and are made from soft material. They even donate a pair when you buy a pair!
BILLY Footwear was created by Darin Donaldson and Billy Price after Billy suffered a three-story fall and became paralyzed from the fall from the chest down. As you can imagine, he had many mobility challenges including getting dressed so they created shoes that were both fashionable and that he could put on independently. They offer both youth and adult sizing all with an easy-to-use zipper. They also offer AFO-friendly shoes. You can find them in stores like Target, DSW, and Kohl’s as well as online through several retailers.
Myself Belts are the only one-handed belt on the market and are perfect for anyone with hand dexterity issues. They are simple and easy to use for any age group and promote independence and boost self-esteem as kids and adults with disabilities can fasten the belt on their own. They utilize Velcro and many of the belts have faux buckles, so it looks exactly like a regular belt.
Lucky and Me was created when a mom saw her daughter struggling with the feel and texture of traditional underwear. Mom Rochelle then found the softest fabrics and fluffiest elastics and started designing. Now they offer underwear for boys and girls ages 2-14. They even have super soft, seamless socks and dance shorts.
Halloween
In addition to their adaptive clothing line, they also have a line of adaptive Halloween costumes for kids and adults. They have awesome wheelchair covers, costumes that work well with wheelchairs, and costumes that go on and off easily with accessible panels for tubing and devices.
If your child is a fan of Disney characters, Disney has a whole line of adaptive costumes so they can dress up as Buzz Lightyear, Elsa. Cinderella, several Star Wars characters, and more.
They have wheelchair covers, wagon covers, and several options for adaptable costumes so your child can dress as their favorite character.