Clothing

I'm a metal head/punk so I dress in black alonb with the accessories like leather wrist bands see on patches of bands I listen too. But due to my middle class I'll switch between that and a relatively conservative dress so you kind of get labeled as a poser but personally I don't care I'm just a camilion and not afraid to stand out from the mainstream crowd when I want to make a statement. Depends on my my mood and envriment I'm in as far as dress code goes. But black is easiest as you don't have to think about colours and coardingting outfits.  

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I have a system! I was forced to work this out as I lived in LA for some time and individuals get hired according to their wardrobe 'choices'. This took me a little time to learn and thankfully I've worked on enough film sets to inquire with wardrobe departments. 

1. You need to assess what styles/colours you like (and suit) and there are a few ways to do this. A woman I knew who worked in wardrobe/fashion bought magazines, cut out the styles and colour palettes she liked and sticky taped them to a section of the wall. You could also peel through fashion books at the library from over the last 100 years and work out what you're simply attracted to, take photos. Once you have set perimeters for a style and colour palette, begin to focus on locating who's making these or spend time in charity shops if you don't mind wearing 2nd hand. 

2. This takes a little time, but it's a good investment. Also one must commit, things tend to go wrong when I see something that's just gorgeous but won't go with anything I own. I can't afford to build an alternate wardrobe and also, humans judge us on appearance, so I'm quite specific & just appreciate interesting things like I would a painting at a gallery.

3. An alternate solution and one I have gone with for a few different 5-10 years of my life is to locate a shop I like (which suits the parameters) and only buy their line. This works with independent shops and takes a few adventures or following individuals on Instagram. This is also excellent for added items like socks. I've found one organic company I like who stocks socks I like and only buy from them.

At one point in my life I realised I only needed a few shoes. Works perfect with a restricted wardrobe set in stone.  A pair of black docs, a comfortable pair of lower (and no one else has them) heels (maybe another - but never buy basic), nude-pink sandals, interesting trainers & aubergine wellies.

In High School I desperately wished I could go to a school with uniforms. I could never work out how to put clothes together in the morning and my mother wouldn't let me wear just black. Still a wee bit bitter about that LOL

Oh, and Vans trainers also! Can't seem to buy anything other than these. They just do such mad designs, love it

I like to buy clothes based on colour and fabric mostly though. Bamboo is the softest material, so all my crazy colour socks are bamboo. Cotton t-shirts. Cord trousers. Sheep skin lined boots. All feels good, so I feel good. Don't give a monkeys what people think tbh. They all look stale to me

I think this is where a tendency to mimicing others can come in handy. See someone you like the look of? Borrow ideas from what they where, shop where they shop, same brands etc. Pretty sure that's how most NT figure out 'style'.

Personally, I prefer to where what I like. People just think I'm an 'out there' artist. But I like to wear comic book pyjamas (I'm nearly 40), tie dye hoodies, leather jackets, and motorsport clothing covering in sponsorship (my special interest has always been Motorcross racing).

Probably sounds ok, until you turn up at a wedding in it

Daily grind for me unfortunately involves a uniform. I'm starting simple with a 1930s apron. Washing dishes is a bit of a messy business, it's also a bit like physiotherapy for me as it's been so long and difficult getting to this point. I've also got me eye on a waistcoat from the 1600s which looks like it would go well with my existing clothes.

I've always had this problem with my clothes I've kind found a way to get around it I tend to just wear the same clothes in different colours 99% of the time I just wear tracksuits or jeans with neutral colour hoodies or jumpers and that's it with plain black, grey or white trainers. I've always asked my mum and my cousins what they think good outfits are as well because they have got good fashion sense.

Any time I I have to wear something formal I will google formal outfits for men and copy the first one I see if I have the same colours, I'm pretty sure this is something a lot of ASD people have trouble with like Plastic said probably because we just don't think about our external appearance to the world as much as NT people do just not something our brains think about.

Shirt and tie solve all my problems - duplicate sets of clothes for every day - perfect!

I wore a very subtle Disney tie (I'm a rebel) where the pattern was tiny Mickey Ears but you had to look really, really close to spot it.

Another tie was from the Science Museum - covered in tiny mathematical formulas.

I'm no help at all. I work with children so I'm in leggings and t-shirt style tops that have either long or short sleeves. I love light up trainers or sparkly trainers. Have to wear socks rolled down. And everything has to be colour matching. 

I'm fine with fabric tags, as long as the ends aren't stiffened. That weird plastic material, that HAS to go!

Oh dear!  Bless you, a job with a formal dress code.  I don't envy you.  I was never very good at that.

My ...errr style if you want to call it that these days, consists of making a lot of very cookie stuff myself in order to avoid the revolting round things that fasten clothes and give me the ebbe jeebies even to look at or mention their name.  It's all elastic, over the head or velcro in some very eccentric fabrics - maps of Italy and stuff.

When I HAD to do the dress code thing, I found one set of stuff I thought was acceptable to me and to work (M&S wide legged pants with elastic waist and over the head blouse and jacket with no...you knows).  I then bought a number of them in different colours to  get me through the week and I wore them until they fell apart to avoid the shopping experience too often.  The items were the same every day except that the colour changed.

Loz said:

I'm going to focus on period garments for myself

I'm a big fan of Victorian and Edwardian dress - great silhouettes - but not really useful for the daily grind.

You need better cutters for a close-cut and to round-off any exposed corners.

M said:

I do this with Vans trainers.

Mine are just Sports Direct cheapo trainers - they get demoted from 'best' when the wear starts to show too much -or smell too bad - by the time they are relegated to dirty workwear, their time is short - cross-legged on rough surfaces eats the sides of them fast.

I do this with Vans trainers. I've had the same pair 4 times now, maybe 5. I've been wearing them for at least 10 years as I remember wearing them when I started my social work course in 2011. 

I suppose this thread isn't about me wanting to look trendy as such, just comfortable in my own skin. I basically live in t-shirts and jeans. My jeans always wear out because I wear them so frequently. I plan to repair some I've worn out with sashiko mending, but let's face it, I'll probably end up even more worn out if I start mending my favourite clothes to wear them for another decade!!! 

In fact, in interviews, when I'm asked if I have any questions... my first one is always: Will I have to wear a shirt and tie? I always leave my coat on in interviews, because underneath I have a t-shirt and tie. I just make sure the tie is visible at the top so it looks as if I'm appropriately dressed. 

I'm practical when choosing what to wear.  What matters to me is that my clothes are clean and don't smell.

I don't care about brands or the shops where I buy clothes.

I think this attitude comes as a reaction to people in my past.  I have a cousin who is obsessed about brand names and stores. For her everything has to be an exclusive brand from a luxury store.  Then, my late father was very unhygienic, he could go for weeks or even months wearing the same clothes every day.  The smell was indescribable.

I just wear what ever.  Although I have a system of rotation for shirts, underwear, trousers, socks.   Where the cleaned clothes go into the back of the queue.  A first in first out system.

Horrendous. I cut them off, but sometimes that makes them worse as I can still feel the stubs. Is this a phenomenon related to autism? I've never read about it anywhere.

I feel like I'm beginning to get there. Finding out about the Autism made things a lot clearer for me. I used to be a costumier, I gave it up because I wasn't able to cope. I went into 'normal' jobs, retail, admin etc, and got more miserable as the time passed. The more depressed I got, the more I stopped doing what I enjoyed. Last year, around the same time I found out that I was probably autistic, I discovered Historybounding. I also saw the bushfires back home and realised that I wanted to make some environmental changes. Now, while nothing is happening at work, I'm focusing on bringing my sewing skills up to scratch, I'm going to focus on period garments for myself which will help me to re-learn dress history and also give me something to wear. I'll also use natural fibres so I know that I'm doing something to help the environment. It ticks many boxes for me and just generally makes me happy.