Why is fashion so complicated?

In John Elder Robison’s book, Be Different, Robison mentions that: “As I write this passage, my clothing is becoming increasingly noticeable.  Sharp little fibers are biting into my back.  The label on my shirt is scratching my neck.”  Many people with Asperger’s Syndrome have a hyper sensitivity to touch.  They generally prefer to buy clothing that is comfortable.

One of my friends, Carmela, commented that I dress very casually.  Carmela mentioned that she usually sees me wearing a hooded sweatshirt with jeans.  Carmela heard that I would be going on a date with one of her friends.  A few days before the date, Carmela and her husband took me to the mall.  They spent hours shopping with me to select shoes, shirts and jeans that would be sufficiently presentable for my date.  I also changed my hair style (for the first time in 20 years) based on the advice from Carmela and her husband.  The main issue that I had with the pair of jeans that Carmela and her husband recommended was that they were really tight.  My wallet wouldn’t fit in the pocket, so I’d have to carry a jacket (so I had a pocket to carry my wallet).

When I go to work, I have four dress shirts (white, red, blue, black).  I’ll wear the shirts along with black dress pants in the same order every week.  On Fridays, it’s a casual dress code.  I’ll wear jeans to work.  I’ll rotate between wearing a shirt with a Flames logo, a Stampeders logo, or a Blue Jays logo.

The only time I’ll wear a suit and tie is when I go to a funeral, an interview or a wedding.

On a different note, since I mentioned hyper sensitivity to touch, I also want to mention that I tried buying a movie ticket in a D-Box simulation seat.  I hated the D-Box chair, because it was extremely distracting.  I was irritated when the chair was shaking during an action scene (this is how the D-Box technology is designed to react during an action scene).  I prefer to watch a movie in a chair that doesn’t move.  It bothers me that it’s more expensive to purchase a D-Box seat, since it costs more money to make the movie experience more unpleasant for me.


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