Choosing what clothes to wear can be challenging for anyone, but it can be harder for visually impaired people, often requiring someone else's help.

Some legally blind people can see shapes and colors. Many who can't, however, attach clothespins or safety pins to their clothes to help them identify colors: five pins for blue clothing, for example. But while the pins help identify solid colors, determining patterns and styles isn't as easy. And using pins for identification can complicate simple chores like doing laundry.

Attaching Braille aluminum tags to the inside of clothing also helps, but the tags can be uncomfortable.

Some visually impaired people ask friends or family members to cut tiny holes in their garments. That eliminates the need for pins or aluminum tags, but it damages the garment.

RIT students Jaimen Brill and Asmah Abushagur have come up with an idea they say will make clothing choices easier for visually impaired people. They have founded a non-profit organization called White Cane Label, and they have designed cloth Braille tags that can be attached to clothing by manufacturers. The tags could carry basic garment information, such as color, and they could also include tips on what to wear with each garment.

The students also hope to have an interactive, talking website created, designed specifically for the visually impaired. The site, www.whitecanelabel.org, would offer fashion information and a place where customers could create their own profiles of the kinds of clothes they like and how they want to dress for different occasions. In the students' plan, customers could shop on-line for clothing for every season and could choose from most major brands.

"It gives them greater independence, because they don't have to depend on someone else to help them shop for something or explain how to wear it," Brill says. "Blind people have an extremely difficult time with the simple task of getting dressed, and first impressions count for them, too."

Neither Brill nor Abushagur is visually impaired; they came up with their idea when a teacher introduced them to a blind friend who talked about the frustration of selecting clothing.

Brill and Abushagur headed to Rome last week to meet with fashion-industry leaders about their start-up.