Do Aspies have an optional fashion sense?

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I do have trouble caring about appearance. Lately I do go to the trouble to wear clothes that look nice, even wear makeup sometimes. I disagree that all NTs are like that...the majority of people I know either aren't stylish, have their own style that they stick to, or purposely try to not wear the recent fashionable thing. I do think NTs are generally more hard wired to care about appearance, it's something I work at, personally. And I don't think all aspies easily look past convention.

I like the red hunting jackets, yellow frilly shirts, and black trousers, that The Kinks wore, because brave people, of both genders, can wear that stuff, if they love the mid 60s.

I agree with elements of what both of you said. It isn't that all adult NTs are slaves to the latest fashion trend. (Teens and early 20's do tend to be very fashion conscious.) So of course you probably know lots of NTs who ignore fashion, create their own fashion or are insistently anti-fashion. But I think NTs (and I am one) see clothes and appearance as a form of non-verbal communication. The way you look is meant to communicate things about yourself. This doesn't mean always adhereing to conventions. But it does mean pretty much constantly "translating" what a person looks like into information about that person. The term "fashion statement" should be taken literally. It means that whatever a person has chosen to put on is meant to be understood as a statement they are making about themselves. Purposely trying to not wear the recent fashionable thing is a pretty blatant statement.

What's probably happening with clothes is the same thing that happens with facial expressions. NTs walk around with a mental catalogue of what certain looks mean, just as we walk around with a mental catalogue of what certain facial expressions mean. When encountering an Aspie, there is a mismatch because what that look means when worn by an NT person doesn't correlate to what it means when worn by an AS person. In fact, the AS person probably didn't have any meaning in mind at all. Just- "this is comfortable and doesn't itch" or something like that. But just as the AS unsmiling face will be misread as anger or sadness by NT people, the comfort-based choice of clothes (and other things like hair) will be misread as ...as whatever those clothes mean when an NT person wears them.

A current example is the term "mom jeans". It may seem absolutely bizarre that the pair of jeans a woman puts on can tell the world whether or not she has children. Yet it does. Some women will actively embrace "mom jeans" and proudly wear them and also tell you about her kids at any excuse. Other women will intentionally shun "mom jeans" because they don't want to be seen as the sort of woman who is obsessed with her children and thinks the rest of the world should be too. All this in a pair of pants. And that's just one little example.

I like to be comfortable. For me, a teeshirt and sweatpants is the best.

and it actually looks very classy too. I think its a fine look.

That's a good example of clothes as communication. The fashion statement is: "I love the mid-60's....a lot". NTs who are >30 may get it, assuming they are familiar with the English fashions of those times (as opposed to the American hippie look of the time). NTs who are actually old enough to remember will definately get it. NTs who are <30 will be baffled and it will just look "weird" unless they have a particular interest in the fashions of that time or muisic of that time (so that they'll see the album/CD covers- or itunes thumbnails.)

Clothes talk. When you realize that, you can control what they say. You clearly realize that and have chosen for them to say something very specific that at least some people will "hear".

I don't have any interest in current fashion trends. Who cares???

I am attracted to colorful, comfortable things. I have a T-shirt fetish. And a big glasses fetish too. I also love going to the Goodwill and finding something weird-looking from the 70s. My friends tell me certain clothes and accessories I own are "very Judy." (me)

Fascinating. That (unsurprisingly) never occurred to me. Inconvenient for aspie-like peoples, as we don't seem to register the carefully encoded messages we're supposed to be portraying just because we like the T-shirt we're wearing.
I don't understand fashion at all. I have always been on the low-class side, so if I have clothing that's appropriate to the weather, that's enough for me. I don't understand the apparently inherent status imbedded in brand names clothes - I simply see it as giving the company free advertising which seems kind of pointless, plus having to pay easily three or four times the price for an item that serves the same function. Take today for example - it's freezing. It's winter. I went to a shopping centre to buy a fleecy hoodie. Brand name hoodies such as Adidas or Slazenger or whatever were $99.98. A plain blue hoodie from Big W however was $10. They do exactly the same thing. Just one has a word on it and one doesn't. Complete mystery.
As far as clothing goes, I simply shoot for neutral. I don't identify with any gender or sexuality (the ultimate grey man - an asexual androgeyne) so I try to keep my clothing away from giving the message that I'm male, female, heterosexual, homosexual, or anything close. Maybe that's a statement, I don't know.

I've always had my own sense on fashion and always a good dresser that turned heads. But there is a large gap between home gear and outside gear. If I'm home I dress in soft clothing and comfort.

I don't really have much fashion sense. I just put on what evers comfortable and doesn't look too stupid (to me). I also never wear clothing with colors, it's always black and white for me.

I actually put a lot of thought into how I dress. I don't like clashing colours and I don't like certain styles of clothing.

I don't know how people decide which colors match and which don't. My mom frequently complains that what I wear doesn't match, but I never cared. I guess NTs really do pay a shocking amount of attention to clothing.

I love nice clothes. I couldn't afford them growing up, and the difference in how people treat me now that I can feels like a +1. Also they fit better, are more comfortable, and last longer.

Italian shoes that I'm obsessed with polishing, thumbhole hoodies, expensive watches. 8 pairs of Levis (not all at once). Always dark (with a few exceptions). Can't stand slogan t-shirts or big logos. Everything has to be understated and ninja. I also carry two multitools and a cute, tiny Petzl headtorch with a retracting cord/strap.