INTERVIEW #154 RUELLA-MARIA

Name: Ruella-Maria 

Occupation: Disabled icon 

Based in: Wales, U.K.

Instagram: Rubyrouxbijou 

Hi Rue! Welcome to A Sustainable Closet! Can you please tell us more about yourself and your lovely Instagram page, what do you share there?

I’m just a fake ginger-haired, middle-aged, disabled, chronically ill wee wifey (Scottish for woman, not wife) from Scotland who enjoys fashion. 

I started my Instagram page about 9 years ago as a visual diary for myself to document my good days when I managed to get up and dressed and it helped me feel better about myself. I’d had to stop working due to my health deteriorating and it was all starting to affect my mental health negatively. So I found a way to do something I enjoy that also reminded me on the bad days that the good ones come around again just as quickly. And now it gives me something to focus on once or twice a week when I dedicate time to solely doing outfit pics, t’s a huge dopamine boost and helps me retain my sense of identity whilst also providing an outlet for my creativity. It’s therapy!

When did you get interested in fashion and sustainability?

I’ve loved fashion for as far back in childhood as I can remember. Dorothy Gales outfit and those shoes in Oz! I’ve thrifted since childhood too and I’ve always had a huge appreciation for vintage clothing. The older and more splendid the better. I’ve always been different. I’m autistic and I think I’m just more drawn to the obscure. I was ashamed of my difference for so long but learning about inner ableism has helped me feel proud of who I am instead. I lived in Texas for a few years and I really got into selling vintage whilst out there and I worked in my friend’s vintage store. The antique malls out there are incredible for finding goodies.

Sustainability is a pretty new concept to me these past few years or so. I grew up poor where folk didn’t have much and it got mended, repurposed and everything got kept in case it came in handy or someone else might need it/want it. I have to mind myself now not to try to collect everything in sight ‘just in case’. But I do love the thrill of finding second-hand/vintage and I’d rather give my money to people, not big companies.

Can you tell us more about your marvellous and inspiring style? Where do you source your clothing and what inspires you?

I just like to feel fancy! I get chronic fatigue because of my disabilities so I actually spend most of my time in t-shirts and knickers to be comfy and in bed. I have to use a pacing system to plan any activity with rest after and that includes playing dress up as I call it. I’ll think about different pieces of clothing for days then when it’s time, I put on my music and I get ready like I used to when going on a night out or somewhere special. I do my hair and make-up, sing my little heart out so out of tune, then put together to wear whatever makes me feel joy. Then take pics to mark the occasion. Mostly it’s around my house and garden as my energy levels can crash quickly so it’s easier to stay close to home. But I’m lucky enough to live within a Welsh mountain range and I’m surrounded by glorious hills, so on occasion, I do love to put on something really fancy and entirely inappropriate and go hiking using my all-terrain wheelchair I’m a big fan of getting to wear ridiculously high heels. I can’t walk far anyway so I wear them when using my wheelchair or will stand in them briefly for a pic. It kills my legs but everything else does too so it’s worth it for that glorious moment of feeling powerful and so tall! 

I spend a lot of time in bed and I’m not as able to get around vintage shops anymore as most are quite small and just not wheelchair accessible so I do a lot of my shopping online. I’m a huge fan of shopping other people’s closets on Vinted & Depop. I try not to ever buy fast fashion but I’m happy to buy it from someone else to save it from landfill and put a few quid in their pocket.  I also shop on eBay/Etsy but found it’s changed in recent years and seems to be more geared towards cheap stuff made in China now.  And I love a big flea/vintage/antique market. Those tend to be more wheelchair accessible for me. 

Can you describe your closet for us, big, small, messy organised, please paint it.

I live in a cottage built in c1815. It’s a bit like a hobbit hole. Small cozy rooms and all wonky. I’ve turned a small bedroom into my closet with Ikea units. It’s all super organised with pull-out drawers for shoes and each section dedicated to specific types of clothing, grouped together by colour. My autistic hyperfocus definitely plays a part with everything having its own place and I’d know if someone moved something. It’s still quite a chaotic, whimsical space filled with colours, frills and shiny accoutrements. Sometimes I just go sit in there and look around me. It just makes me feel so happy and planning outfits gives me an activity to look forward to.

What is your best styling advice for anyone who wants to be more bold and playful? Where to start?

Start by wearing something that brings you joy and try not to think about whether ‘it goes’ those rules are made up nonsense by other people. Do what makes you feel happy with fashion and you can’t go wrong. 

What is your take on the fashion industry when it comes to diversity and inclusion? What can designers do better from your point of view?

The disabled community make up 15-20% of the population but is overlooked and often just forgotten about entirely when it comes to diversity. We intersect with every minority too. There are some amazing designers out there who are starting to include disabled models on the catwalk, in advertising campaigns and as influencers to represent their clothing. But it needs to be more. Representation really matters. 

We can also see that you are using image descriptions, is this something you would recommend everyone to do?

Yes, absolutely it’s for inclusivity for the blind community who have the right to access everything as we do. Captions too on everything for the deaf community. Making your posts accessible benefits everyone else to an extent as well. As an autistic person, I hate when the noise jumps out at me from people’s posts or stories. I always have my phone on silent. so if you don’t caption it, I scroll on by and we both miss out. And I think image descriptions add quite good personal context to a photo. Let people know how you see the image. 

Anything else you would like to share?

I’d like to ask folk to diversify who they follow. Find the epic disabled people who are out there and help make them more visible in our communities. Society still feels some kind of mix of pity, fear and shame about disabled folks because they likely don’t see them or interact with them much if they aren’t friends any time or family. Mostly because the world is still so inaccessible to us. Partly due to the archaic ugly laws that were still in place until the 70s to keep disabled people hidden away and in institutions! Disability could happen to anyone at any time so it benefits us all to work on all of this and give disabled folks a visible seat at the table.