Autism: T-Shirts, Shoes, and Fashion
Accidentally putting t-shirts on backwards!
Making sure a shirt isn't inverted is easy: Make sure the more visible side of the stitch seams face in, and that the fabric flows correctly. Also: Tags/labels around the collar. Those face towards the neck.
Determining which direction a t-shirt faces is usually pretty easy: Most of them are a solid uniform color with a design silkscreened on them. That design faces forwards and the tag/info bit inside the collar faced aft. (Using..... Fricken.... Nautical ship terms lol. God I love being autistic!)
But for some shirts it's not immediately obvious which way they go. They'll have designs on both sides, it's just a symmetric color/pattern, etc. So I put it on in what I think is forward facing and go about my day.
And then, somehow, the neurotypicals notice my shirt is on backwards.
Is.... Is this some sort of "6th sense" allists have? You're not the one who inspected my shirt and then put it on me, I DID! How are you people able to figure this out?
Do you neurotypicals intensely observe the way my cloths are arranged, down to the minute details? I sure as hell hope not, that's kinda creepy!
Shoes are nice, they protect one's feet from sharp objects on the ground and overall rough terrain. Less so when stuff like small pebbles and other debris somehow teleport inside them and your just like "Ugh, there's something in my shoe(s)!"
And then you have to pull one off and try either bangi- Why am I going on this tangent?
Anyway I like shoes. They are very nice. I kinda just..... Grab them and put them on. That bit me in the ass once.
It was dark and in something of a hurry. I simply grabbed two shoes and put them on without looking. Everything felt right, so everything was correct right? RIGHT?
Fast forward to later in the morning at band camp and during the drills the band instructor tells us to notice how our feet are positioned.
So I look down and finally notice I had two different shoes on. Yikes!
"Oh shit that's INCREDIBLY embarrassing!" I thought. Absolutely nothing I could do about it, and I just KNEW people around me noticed it.
Sure enough when I brought this up myself one person chimed in and said they noticed.
At some point around the age of 6 I was told how to get out my own cloths. The concept of "matching clothing" was brought up and I was all like "That doesn't make any sense."
Even before then when being in the cloths isle I'd sometimes select female clothing, get told it's female clothing, and be like "What's the difference?"
Which to answer young me: Shape. Most women have breasts and most men have dicks. The clothing can't put too much pressure on these or else the clothing will be very uncomfortable. (Much to the chagrin of gender queer and intersex peoples.)
Most people have their own tastes in fashion. They choose things they like, they find what they think looks good on them, and I do none of that.
I put "whatever" on. The other week I had red nail polish on for the purpose of figuring myself out. My sibling eventually noticed and commented "Oh, red isn't really your color." Just WHAT!?
I suspect a key reason I don't have any real fashion sense is down to the fact that I don't have an "internal self portrait". Yes, I know what I look like, but there's not much there when it comes to more abstract thinking.
It's why I find looking at myself in photos and videos uncomfortable sometimes. I go "Why do I look like that?" at myself. Something in my brain is expecting "static noise" but instead gets myself. It's not a pleasant feeling.Â
But hey! At least I'm happy wearing nearly anything and in arbitrary combinations!
No seriously if you placed a bet on me wearing an "ugly combination" of cloths and it didn't conflict with me being male, I'll wear it!
Again, partially down to the lack of an internal self portrait, I'm apathetic towards how I look. Not having to worry about all that is fucking nice to be honest.