Worth noting that a lot of ASD and ADHD “symptoms” actually overlap! But for me with ADHD it’s a case of having an outfit in mind, then if I can’t find it or it’s in the wash or something, and having to then pick something different, it’ll take me a looong time to figure out what to wear. Trying lots of different combinations and comparing them to the outfit I originally wanted to wear.

I can totally see eventually just giving up being an option once I’m fed up of trying on clothes or lose interest in whatever the event was. (If it wasn’t that important I be present anyway).

One of the core issues with ADHD is a thing called Executive Fatigue. Basically what this means is you have the ability to make only so many decisions about your life in a given day. If you run out, then you need to spend the majority of the rest of the day isolating to help your brain relax. It’s not that someone would necessarily be obsessed with the idea of an outfit, but rather it’s the idea that they had an expectation that reality has now violated. This requires further mental energy to revaluate the situation. Often times all of that energy is already spent making the plan, so when something goes wrong there is no more energy left to come up with a new plan. It’s hard to describe and many people use different words for it but common terms include “out of spoons,” “brain fog,” or “hitting a wall.”

For my part, the struggle is real. I always dress up 5 minutes before I have to go. And I mostly feel underdressed, either because all good clothes are in the laundry or I cannot decide what to wear.

You’re very much right