we are a social species I don’t know what the difference is

I 100% dress for others, I don’t really care about clothing, and I hate to buy new clothes. I only do it because I think I may be nearing some limit of what is considered decent to wear in the presence of other people, who 100% always are better dressed than me.

The other day I was at the supermarket, and had seen they had a special offer on “plaice” I think it’s called.
Well the special offer was sold out, and I asked an employee if they had anymore.
The employee was extremely nice, and asked how many I had planned to buy? And I said 2, then he took 2 bags that had 50% more content, and wrote the price of the special offer on them, and said I should just mention his name at the register.
I though Wow that stellar service, and it was only when I came home I realized I had some of my worst pants on that are so warn they had holes in them.
I have newer pants, but I don’t like them, because they have no sway and they are some sort of stretch material to be tight, and I absolutely hate that. And I also hate shopping for clothes.

Anyways because my clothes are (to put it mildly) sub par for normal people, I figured he probably thought I was some sort of destitute.

I am married, and our economy is absolutely fine, we own an almost paid out house, and we have a car that was bought cash without borrowing, and we have a good amount of money in the bank.

Anyways I don’t care, maybe because I don’t have to. I just want clothes that are comfortable.

If I wasn’t dressing for others I’d be naked like 90% of the time.

i would dress for myself but my cat will get hair over my outfit so the only time I can really dress is when I’m out of the house

I have more important things to worry about than clothes. Nobody cares what I wear, and frankly neither do I.

Anyone who claims they don’t have other people in mind when choosing their outfit is lying - either to you or to themselves.

That said, I don’t think I’d dress any differently even if I were the only person left on the planet. I’ve got this outdoorsy, mildly militaristic “gray man” style that I like but I’m doing it for myself - not for others. Hell, if anything, some people just see it as cringe. Still, there’s an image of how I hope others perceive me, because that’s also how I like to think of myself. So it wouldn’t be honest to say I never think about other people’s perception.

Probably the only piece of clothing I avoid wearing in public because of how it might be perceived is my hiking/combat boots - they admittedly give off a bit of a nationalistic vibe, especially paired with the rest of my outfit. I still wear them for outdoor activities, of course, just not to the grocery store.

Now that I think about it, I do sometimes also not put on a beanie because I think my hair looks better but a beanie is arguably more comfy.

I have no fashion sense and buying clothes stresses me out so I dress for neither. At best, I dress for other people’s basic sense of modesty.

Edit: oh and because it’s cold.

For others. If I’m staying home, I dress like I’m homeless in whatever grungy dirty things that already need washing. If I’m going out, my hair is combed, my threads are fresh and I’m not getting denied entrance to the restaurant. The movie Blast from the Past was pretty stupid, but it did teach me (remind me?) that you dress nice as a courtesy to your friends.

IDK… I dress how I like, so for myself, I guess.

Fuck others, I need to be comfortable.

Am Neurodivergent.

Third option: dressing for the weather.

Myself, it’s “others”. I have a public-facing job, and the better I look the more I sell and the more I earn. At home I’m generally as close to naked as is practical, and as close fo all-black as laundry allows.

I dress for the weather and what I’m going to be doing.

I wouldn’t know what anyone else wants me to wear.

It’s a bit of both. I’m a photographer and I like to think of my outfits like photos, especially when I’m going somewhere where I plan to network. I want to present myself as someone with a good sense of style and who knows how to make people look good. So my style is my own, but I try to make sure I look good and fit the vibe of where I’m going.

I recently went to a party focused on some spiritual stuff and to match the vibe I got some 3/4 harem pants, but I got ones with a slightly muted floral pattern to make it my own. I made the rest of my outfit plain and dark to match and really emphasize the new pants. It was a style a bit outside my comfort zone, but was a big hit and I got lots of compliments.

both my wife and I dress for ourselves. She used to do more for others but my lazyness has worn off on her. She effected me a bit to as she used a lot of cheap fashion and now I wear the pants equivalent of tshirts if im not wearing shorts and tshirt.