Brilliant idea! UK shop displays mannequin with wedding gown on wheelchair
London, Jan 14: It feels nice to see people with a sensitive heart still among and around us. A bridal shop in England has attracted a lot of praise recently for displaying a wedding dress on a mannequin seated on a wheelchair. The very beautiful concept has won several hearts for the sophisticated way in which disability has been portrayed.
A picture of the seated mannequin in a bridal dress at The White Collection in Portishead near Bristol went viral after it was shared by Beth Wilson, a disabled artist.
I went and met Sarah @TheWhiteCollect and we had a great chat about how surreal it is to go viral online.
— Beth Wilson (@doodlebeth) January 11, 2019
Here’s hoping more shops start including disabled people :D pic.twitter.com/7OW4I2y5P9
"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," Wilson, 36, said on the micro-blogging site. The wheelchair-bound artist said the display gave her a sense of representation.
The owners of the shop - Laura Allen and her sister Sarah Parker - however, was not too glad over the concept saying it was rare to see a wheelchair in a shopping window and that they didn't give it much thinking when they had first set the window display.
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"It's been great having such a positive response, but in a way it's quite sad people have done a double take, it shows how rare it is to see a wheelchair in a shop window," Laura was quoted as saying by news agencies.
"It would be nice one day for people to double take just because they like the dress," she added.
Laura also made some hard-hitting remarks saying she did not believe that they were the first to portray disability in such way and hoped that the trend is followed by others as well. "It's an industry that's well known for not being inclusive, a lot of bridal shops you go past you see the standard skinny mannequin," she said, adding that everyone eventually gets married and it doesn't matter how you look or what you are.
Here are some the reactions the Twitterati came up with:
I’d love to see more representation of queer disabled people getting married and just existing—whether that’s within romantic relationships or not. @doodlebeth https://t.co/M3ZWtcqJab
— Alaina Leary (@alainaskeys) January 11, 2019
This is brilliant, great to see @MollyWattTalks https://t.co/3CgRZ5DKVt
— Hot (@Thehotwatt) January 10, 2019
Have to say, that dress looks fabulous with the chair, good to see them showcase how important it is that they make sure dresses look great for every client.
— BoukeSB (@bosyber) January 9, 2019
This is fab! If only more bridal shops showed this level of inclusivity
— VintageWeddingPhotos (@VintageWPhotos) January 9, 2019
This image is gorgeous! Congrats! 🌷⚘🌼🌻🌺
— Shredded like a Banksy (@twinski) January 10, 2019