Every summer here in the UK, our autistic asses wonder how in the name of Hell you’re supposed to dress in the heat. For the last 20 years, a heroic combo has got us through it all.
The overshirt!!! That being, a t-shirt underneath a shirt.
It may come across as lazy, and it probably is, but it’s given us comfort and cools whilst we wait for the proper British weather to kick back in (rain, cold, and a light breeze). Thus, here is our tribute to the way to dress from July through to about the 27th September.
ALL GLORY TO THE OVERSHIRT
As you can see above, it’s EASY to poke fun at the overshirt. And we get it. Especially those guys who go around in lumberjack shirts, which even for our non-fashion minded sense it’s just about the laziest way to dress.
We do shirts for the overshirt… but not lumberjack shirts. Never.
And whilst we agree with some of the humorous asides from the above comedian dude, we’re also OUTRAGED (as this is the online era) to the point we’ve punched a hole in the Professional Moron wall in disgust.
NOBODY INSULTS THE OVERSHIRT AND GETS AWAY WITH IT! WE ARE HERE TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT!
Autism, Summer, and the Overshirt
ASD peeps feel on edge during summer. We thought it was just us, but on Reddit we observed many others confirming this. The reasons for summer hatred are plentiful:
- TOO HOT
- TOO BRIGHT
- TOO MANY PEOPLE
- MORE NOISE THAN USUAL
- OH MY GAWD WHY IT IS STILL LIGHT AT TEN PM?!
Just to explain, summer brings with it an onslaught of heightened issues such as heat and bright lights. All of which are overwhelming for the ASD brain and difficult to process all at once. Add into that the big crowds the Sun brings out for Sun-starved Brits to sunbathe in and it’s just about the worst merger of issues all year round.
As pallid Brits, the very idea it’s going to be warm/hot/sunny for three months of the year is a culture shock. As the rest of the time (October through to May) it’s cold, windy, and wet. Just the way we like it!
The overshirt provides some solace amongst the hot months.
Paradoxically, the t-shirt and shirt combo may appear lazy. Something cobbled together out of laziness. But it’s more of a sensory overload shield, a comfort mechanism, a Knight in Shining Overshirt. From a proprioception front, with the sense of self-movement and body position, this fashion statement makes sense for the neurodivergent world.
You feel covered up away from the heat, don’t get too hot, and feel comfy.
We first discovered the overshirt combination on a holiday to Amsterdam in late 2007. We were living in London at the time and made the trip over with a bunch of dudes driving, then arriving in Holland (going through Bergen op Zoom along the way) to Amsterdam and it was bloody hot when we got there.
The overshirt saved us that holiday.
It was a comfortable, winning combination that helped us feel like normal human beings. And so, comedy satire dude in the above video, you may mock us overshirt wearing man blokes. But remember this… shut it!
We’ll be overshirting it from now until around October 8th 2026 to ride out these months of discomfort. Wish us luck, fellow sun haters!
Why Not Just Wear a T-Shirt?
How bloody dare you!?! Have you not been paying attention to a word written above? Well, anyway, here’s the ASD explainer you ignorant fool:
- T-shirts cling to the body, which leaves self-conscious people feeling exposed, whereas the overshirt is like a CURTAIN of protection
- Having just one laying of fabric on your torso (at least for some ASD peeps) feels more overstimulating than having multiple layers
- This is often due to brushing against surfaces, feeling changes in breeze etc. It’s annoying and unpredictable
- Hand placement horrors and dilemma
On that final note, we just realised one of our big issues with summer is… what do you do with your hands?! In autumn and winter you can slam a jacket on and ram your hands in the pockets. But in summer, your hands sway around awkwardly and the like.
Sadly, even the overshirt can’t prevent that issue. Not unless someone invents a shirt with pockets in it. Worth keeping in mind. Gap in the market.
