Does mindful grooming really matter that much?

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve had untreated ADHD most of my life and even after getting treated, I’ve had a rough time finding drugs that work well. I’ve finally found a good combination of treatments working for me and I’m starting to recover from a lifetime of being inattentive of details.

I’ve suffered almost my entire life from having people seem to instantly dislike me for no reason I could figure out. I was talking to a councilor about this and for the first time, I got a straight answer.

She noticed that my shirt was on inside out and commented that I always have one or two things “off” about the way I dressed.

I knew what she was talking about. I almost always end up out the door with something on inside out or backwards. I’ve almost always mismatched socks because I couldn’t find a pair. My husband frequently comments that I wear colors that don’t go together or patterns that clash. He’s right, because I’ve heard it before.

I don’t wear dirty stuff, but I have worn stuff that probably should have been ironed. Part of ADHD for me is about clumsiness, so I used to spill things on myself on a daily basis. This is thankfully going away.

It’s so strange because I NEVER notice when people make dressing blunders. I assumed that if I didn’t notice, nobody else did. I had no idea that people may be treating me like I’m dirty and trashy because of the way I dress.

Do people really notice this stuff? Is it really possibly a reason that I’ve been shunned since about 4th grade onwards?