Disabled woman praises wedding dress shop for featuring mannequin in wheelchair

‘Seeing a wheelchair in a shop window made me feel represented’

Beth Wilson (Twitter)

A wedding dress boutique in Portishead, Bristol has been praised for featuring a mannequin in a wheelchair in its shop window.

The mannequin was spotted by Beth Wilson, who’s required the use of a wheelchair for the past five years.

She promptly shared a photo of the mannequin on Twitter, and has been flooded with positive responses from people commending The White Collection Bridal Boutique for its inclusive display.

Wilson explains to The Independent why the mannequin had such a huge impact on her as a wheelchair user.

“I think most disabled people experience inaccessibility often when they go out, I know I do, pretty much every time I go anywhere. The world isn’t designed for us,” she says.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a wheelchair in a shop window like this (mobility shops not included) and it was so surprising to see and made me feel represented.”

There are approximately 13.9 million people in the UK who are disabled, according to disability charity Scope.

However, many may feel as though they're being ignored by the mainstream media, which is why having a wedding dress modelled on a mannequin in a wheelchair is particularly significant.

A photo of a mannequin in a wheelchair in a wedding dress shop has gone viral on Twitter (The White Collection Bridal Boutique)

“So often disabled people feel invisible because we don’t see ourselves in the media much and especially not modelling beautiful clothes," Wilson says.

She's also commended the boutique for adorning the wheelchair with beautiful foliage, as she frequently feels as though mobility products like wheelchairs are painted in a negative light.

"Mobility aids are often portrayed as negative things that people want to hide when actual mobility aids like wheelchairs give us freedom," she says.

Wilson's tweet about the mannequin has garnered more than 20,000 likes. "No okay this makes me cry a little," one person commented in response.

Placing a shop mannequin in a wheelchair 'portrays such a powerful message of inclusivity' (The White Collection Bridal Boutique)

Laura Allen, who co-owns The White Collection Bridal Boutique with her sister Sarah Parker, tells The Independent that the decision to place a wheelchair in the window display was a very simple one.

"Our thoughts of having one of them in a wheelchair was 'why not?' And we didn't really think too much about it," she says.

"We haven't shared any images of the window or spoken about it at all but the window seems to have spoken for itself!

"We love the fact that it's so simple compared to our window display before yet it portrays such a powerful message of inclusivity."