Being blind doesn’t stop me enjoying fashion

Fashion is more than just clothes. Through textures, fabrics, shapes and colours, the way we dress can reflect our personality. But it’s more than that: fashion can also be a form of self-care. Choosing an outfit you love or experimenting with a new style can boost your confidence and bring joy to your day. It’s about celebrating yourself and feeling good. Sylvia Chengo says, “being blind doesn’t stop me enjoying fashion”.

These videos share snippets of Sylvia sharing her love of fashion as a blind woman.

Sylvia says

I’ve always loved messing with my hair and experimenting with different styles and designs. As my sight loss has progressed, I have noticed how safe I have been playing it. Which makes no sense because I didn’t care about looking “ridiculous” when I could see it, so why should I now?

We’re all a work in progress, and my aim is to find the bits of myself that made me who I am, while growing and preparing for who I want to be. You know what they say about pain into purpose and all that! Do you and let it glow.

I definitely care about how I look

Video description

Sylvia stands in front of the camera, wearing a black dress with a black corset over the top. She turns to either side, posing to show off the outfit. She is holding a black shoulder bag and swings it onto her shoulder. It has a gold chain strap. Half the video is slightly blurred.

Being blind doesn’t stop me from enjoying fashion

Video description

Sylvia struts past the camera as it follows her. She is outside, walking along a paved area with a brick wall and trees behind her. Sylvia is wearing sunglasses, a cream jumpsuit with three-quarter sleeves and a belt around the waist. She has a black bag on her shoulder and slider sandals in cream to match the jumpsuit.

One of my favourite hairstyles

Video description

Sylvia is a Black woman sitting in front of the camera in a kids bedroom, with a bunk bed behind her. She styles her braids, which are long blonde boho braids, into half up half down space buns. She is chatting away inedible as she does so. The braids have gold accessories. There are captions matching the audio throughout the video.