# Do you pick at or fidget with part of your clothes?



## IcedOver (Feb 26, 2007)

Just wondering whether anyone habitually fidgets with any part of their clothes. This is something I've been doing since I was a kid. I used to wear jeans almost exclusively. When I would be sitting, I liked to fiddle with the seams at my knees. The thick seam/stitching can be put between the fingers and when crunched make a little "pop". I would do this in any situation, home, school or work. 

Since I no longer wear jeans, I've moved on to fidgeting with the collars of my polo shirts (or any shirt that has a collar, really). I roll the little fabric "grooves" of the collar between my thumb and forefinger. If I do it long enough, the fabric gets a dirty look in that area that stays after washing. Eventually the collar develops a hole in it, and the shirt is unwearable in public. I've ruined several shirts, including one recently that I liked. Right now, between typing, my hand is going subconsciously to my collar and fidgeting with it. I also do this in any situation, and I'm sure it must look quite odd in public. 

Why do I do this? I believe it's a nervous tic of some kind, possibly a stress reducer. However, I also really like the feeling of it. Recently when I had a really stressful day at work, I found that I was squeezing really hard on the collar. I've been doing it so much recently that I've developed calluses on the thumb and forefinger. Right now, between typing, my hand automatically goes up to the collar.

Do you do this?


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## AnaNastase (Sep 17, 2017)

*I seem to have the same problem*

I've had a very similar problem to yours since I was almost 11. Only that I don't do it to my collar, but either at the sewing at the bottom of the shirt or the one under the armpits. Similar to you, I sometimes enjoy it, but other times I do it subconsciously, and it's starting to get really annoying. I destroyed some of my favorite shirts. As I'm writing this, I still have an urge to play around with my shirt. I've obviously tried different methods to stop, such as buying those fidget spinners and cubes. They helped a lot, but if I don't have them, I resume to my clothes once more. If you have any other suggestion, please tell me.


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## Memories of Silence (May 15, 2015)

I don't really do anything with my clothes, but sometimes I pull my sleeves down a bit so I can hold them when I'm feeling nervous.

I play with my jewellery and my handbag.


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## KILOBRAVO (Sep 17, 2011)

you're doing it because its an inner restlessness. pent up nervous energy. impatience or feeling uncomfortable.

one of the most common fidgets that some men do is the rubbing of the palms of their hands along their legs outward towards the knee. Its an automatic sweat from palms removal. sitting rubbing or caressing your hand is another unconscious attempt to soothe or bring comfort because of nerves.

i do not do clothes fidgeting. although sometimes i find i do twiddle with the strings that come down from the hood from hoodies when outside. but this is more to do with hanging arms being awkward things when you're outside walking adn i have nothing to do with my hands adnno where to go with my arms unless their in a pocket lol.


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## firestar (Jun 27, 2009)

Not with my clothes, but sometimes I'll redo my hair. I keep it tied back, so I'll let it down and put it back up again, even though I don't need to. 

If I have a piece of string or an extra hairband, I'll twist it around my left index finger. There's some scar tissue there from an accident years ago that's very thick. If I tighten something around the finger, it increases the blood flow and makes it feel normal. I barely notice the scar tissue anymore and it's more of a nervous or bored tic than anything else.


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## Ai (Oct 13, 2012)

It just occurred to me today, when I forgot to wear it, that I fiddle with my watch a lot when I'm at work. I have weirdly tiny wrists and bracelets and watches never fit me properly. Often times, before long, my watch ends up upside down (the face dangling at the underside of my wrist--gravity and whatnot) or resting halfway up my arm. Fixing it has apparently become a slightly less than necessary habit, though, as I kept trying to do it today when it wasn't even there. lol

Instead, I just awkwardly rubbed my wrist...


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## LizG88 (Jul 18, 2021)

omg I thought I was the only one that did this. I will like pinch my jeans and rub the top part where its soft if you rub it and pops if you push it down. I've always thought I was just weird. I do it without even realizing it because I've been doing it so long. I do it so nobody can really tell what I'm doing and I've only ever told 1 other person about it because I'm embarrassed. The person I told would notice how much I did it after I told them and then they would laugh at me everytime I did it so I won't tell anyone I know again. I don't know why I do it but I do it all day if I'm wearing pants that will let me do it


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## aqwsderf (Aug 16, 2013)

The lace band


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## melancholyscorpio (Aug 14, 2015)

Sometimes I would pull the front of my shirt over my mouth and nose.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

I'm, I don't think so. Not out of nervous habit or anything. I usually only buy one or two pairs of jeans every 5 years or so and my weight fluctuates quite a bit so sometimes my jeans are a bit loose around the waist and they don't put enough belt loops on them these days to prevent them from getting bunched up in spots and kinda sagging in that characteristic way that jeans do when they don't fit right. So I will often be trying to fix the waist of my jeans when I get out of the car.


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## CoolLilChickadee (Nov 10, 2019)

melancholyscorpio said:


> Sometimes I would pull the front of my shirt over my mouth and nose.


I do this ALL the time. I think I do it when I'm self-conscious or reliving an embarrassing moment in my head. Almost like a subconscious effort to hide.


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## shyguy07 (Mar 22, 2015)

If I'm wearing a hoodie with a zipper, I play with the little handle thing and zip it up and down sometimes. I also play with the drawstrings on my shirts or hoodies with them.

Also on long sleeve T shirts I tend to keep pushing the sleeves up over my wrists, but that's because they keep falling down. I just need to get bigger wrist muscles so they stay put. LOL


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## IcedOver (Feb 26, 2007)

I guess this was an old post of mine. I still do this with my pants, but not as much with my shirt collars because in the past few years I've barely been wearing short-sleeve shirts with collars. I've actually transferred some fidgeting to rubbing my left thumbnail. This started right at the pandemic's start in March of last year. I started working from home and often just in sweatpants which I do not fidget with because the fabric is not satisfying. Instead, one day I just started rubbing my thumbnail with the index finger on the same hand. I had never done it before, and have continued doing it almost constantly since, such that the nail is extremely shiny. It already had unique striations that I liked to admire, but currently it's very shiny too, which I look at constantly after rubbing it, how it shines in the light. I think this is actually damaging my hand, which is not good. I'd say it's stress transference because I tend to do it more when stressed, although I do it almost all day. I have to consciously stop myself from doing it.


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## shyguy07 (Mar 22, 2015)

I have a shirt with snaps instead of buttons and it has flaps on the pockets with snaps too. Sometimes I'll unsnap and snap them. Or I'll fidget with my shirt collar.


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