Difficult Mother in Law

Another good idea MissAdventure. Thanks

Difficult Mother in Law
I think the OP is a misleading one - she has been diagnosed with dementia and memory loss so surely is not being deliberately difficult?

She sounds as if she needs a lot more support.

She sounds as if she needs help with bathing etc - even if someone helps only twice a week then the clothes could be changed then.

You're welcome.
I was just going to also suggest asking her if she has anything to go to the charity shop.
If she says yes, fetch some clothes out of her wardrobe and say "oh this top is lovely! It was tucked away, probably forgotten, you'll want to keep this, won't you?"
It may pique her interest enough to want to wear it.

That's a good idea MissAdventure I might try that. Thank you.

I do buy her clothes ,including underwear. Always the same sort of things so interchangeable. Her drawers and wardrobe are full of clean clothes she just won't wear them.

How about taking a new shirt in and saying you bought it for her and wondered if she would mind trying it on?
Then you may be able to say how nice it looks, make a cup of tea, and generally distract her from getting changed back into the dirty one.

How about buying a set of clothes exactly the same, (if you can)
If not, perhaps similar clothing, and just change one item when and if you can.

Its awful, but the thing to remember is that it isn't doing her any harm by wearing the same clothes for (gulp!) 10 weeks.
Could you just exchange her underwear for clean sometimes?

No. She lives alone so she is always dressed when I see her.

Do you help at nighttime or is she independent at that time? I was thinking that perhaps you could duplicate her clothes so swooping things would be simpler.

MOnica is right , remove the clothes and either ask her to pick something or just place a fresh set where she usually leaves her day clothes

She has her own house and is fiercely independent. We do a lot behind the scenes laundry, shopping etc which enables her to believe that she is self-sufficient. Perhaps that's where we are going wrong.

Presumably she gets undressed and into night attire in the evening, when that happens, quietly remove the items that need washing and the following day, all you need to do is ask her what she wants to wear today.

I have an autistic nephew who would live in the same clothes without changing and that is how his carers and family deal with the problem.