I'm also sensitive to the idea of someone being judged on how they dress. Perhaps it's because I find my own clothing becoming more and more about comfort and less and less about "fashion", not that I ever followed anyone else's idea of which was which.

When I worked in a book store in DC back in the mid-70s for a short time, I found myself being told by the assistant manager not to talk to any of the customers. When I asked her why not, she very pointedly looked me up and down (I was wearing a flannel shirt and jeans- all quite clean) and said she could "tell I wasn't well-read". This was purely based on my appearance as she and I had never exchanged two words (I was hired by the manager who was duly impressed with my resume which included two degrees, and also noted that I had opened and run my own bookstore with my mother in my late teens).

I was flabberghasted that this other woman had been so quick to judge me and I made a mental note to myself to remember this forever more...xx..e