Mary Lou Spiess ( – June 18, 1992) was an American disability advocate, teacher, and designer of disabled fashion.

Biography

Mary Lou Spiess was born Mary Lou Crump, around 1931. After graduating from Analy High School in 1947, she attended the

College of the Pacific College of the Pacific is the liberal arts core of the University of the Pacific and offers degrees in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the fine and performing arts. The College houses 18 academic departments in addition to ...

, and graduated in 1950. She married Harold Spiess in 1951. They had a son, and lived in

Sebastopol, California Sebastopol ( ) is a city in Sonoma County, in California with a recorded population of 7,521, per the 2020 U.S. Census. Sebastopol was once primarily a plum and apple-growing region. Today, wine grapes are the predominant agriculture crop, a ...

when she contracted polio in 1955 at the age of 24. This left Spiess, in her own words, a quadriplegic. Before her sickness, Spiess was an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

teacher, and by 1960 she was able to successfully work from home as an elementary and

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

level tutor for remedial reading, algebra and languages. This was despite having to sleep in an iron lung and being reliant upon daily use of a pneumobelt. In 1985, Spiess (now living in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

since 1966, and using a motorised wheelchair to get about) spoke to the '' Lawrence Journal-World'' who described her as pioneering, and being "the grandmother" of disabled fashion. Spiess explained how as a disabled person, she noticed that clothing no longer fitted her properly, making it "impossible to look nice", but she was able to think about solutions and operate a sewing machine using her toes. In 1977, she contributed towards ''Le Chic'', a book about clothing and fashion for disabled people authored by disabled people, and edited by Melodie Sells. After Spiess published her thoughts on how to dress smartly as a disabled person, others started consulting her and writing in to ask her advice. Practical issues addressed by Spiess included how to avoid skirts getting caught in wheelchair wheels, and the necessity of robust waistbands that would stay put when the wearer needed to be helped up in her chair. Spiess emphasized in 1985 that it was important for disabled people to access nice clothing for their self-esteem and to present a positive image to other disabled people. In 1985, she was given a Distinguished Alumni Award from the

University of the Pacific University of the Pacific may refer to: *University of the Pacific (Colombia) *University of the Pacific (Ecuador) *University of the Pacific (Peru) * University of the Pacific (United States) *University of Asia Pacific, Bangladesh * University of ...

. Spiess died June 18, 1992, at her home in Stockton, aged 63.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiess, Mary Lou 1931 births 1992 deaths American women fashion designers American fashion designers University of the Pacific (United States) alumni People from Sebastopol, California People from Stockton, California Analy High School alumni American activists with disabilities Polio survivors