A 15-year-old boy was “trembling with excitement” to have an exact replica of a suit made that his favorite musician wore for his birthday.
Leo, 15, fell in love with the pink suit Ed Sheeran wore in his “Bad Habits” music video.
The outfit was created by Swindon-based charity Dressability, which makes and alters clothing for people with disabilities and mobility issues.
Leo, who has Down syndrome, also received a video message from Sheeran.
“He’s watched it six times already,” his mother Claire said that afternoon when the video arrived.
In the message, Sheeran said he wanted to send a video to say “thanks for being a fan.”
Leo’s mother said: “He’s wanted this outfit since he saw the Bad Habits video.
“I was looking for a similar pink suit online myself, but it was too expensive.”
Claire contacted Dressability, where seamstress Edie Fox fitted Leo’s suit.
“Oh my god, he was so excited wasn’t he?” said Mrs Fox.
“He was literally shaking. Mum kept saying, ‘Calm down, calm down Leo’.
“He couldn’t believe he was finally going to get one.”
“They are fantastic, they did an amazing job,” added Claire.
Dressability manager Sharon Tombs said the charity aims to give people the independence to dress themselves.
“And that can be replacing zippers with Velcro, or the latest thing now is magnets.”
It also has a project creating ‘dream’ costumes for children with disabilities.
“Something money can’t buy and that’s bespoke,” Ms Tombs said.
She said children with disabilities “often have shorter arms or shorter legs” and have trouble finding a costume that fits.
“It’s amazing to be able to make people’s lives easier and give them the confidence and dignity to wear something that really suits them.”
The charity relies heavily on volunteers like Anne Tuffin, who said she “really enjoyed” creating Leo’s suit.
“It’s worth getting the pics back to see them wearing the outfits,” Ms. Tuffin said.
Ms Fox added: “When I first came there was a young lady of 15 who wanted to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast and we made her this big gold dress.
“We have to be careful that the robes don’t get caught in their wheels, that they can easily put them on.”
She said that once Leo’s suit was ready he didn’t want to change.
“He said, ‘I’ll take this to school, please’.”
“It’s a real joy to see their faces when they have something they dreamed of,” she added.
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