I've been lurking for some time but don't post often. Last night I had a chat with my SO that left me wondering.

I've had (and am still having) a particularly stressful year. In less than a year I've been the lead for an application at my job, averaging 50+ hrs/week plus oncall, left a relationship of nearly 10 years, developed another, moved out of my home, done a whole-house remodel (almost done), moved back in, lost my job, am moving my new SO in with me, and preparing to sell her house. Through all this my desire to dress has had some pretty dramatic swings.

When I was working long hours I loved to come home, get out of my stuffy buttoned up collar, and slip into a loose, comfy dress or skirt for around the house. During the remodel, out of necessity, every night I changed into dirty jeans and an old tshirt. I didn't dress at all for over 2 months, though I wanted to many times. When I finally got the opportunity for a couple weeks, I only wanted to dress 2 or 3 times. When I lost my job I suddenly wanted to dress every possible minute, but felt like I shouldn't. When the major remodel finished and it was time to move back in, and move in my SO, I wanted to dress a couple times a week but couldn't because of various appointments. Two weeks ago things slowed down and I wanted to dress every day, but only got to for a few hours. This week I suddenly have no desire to dress.

Last night I was chatting with my SO when she commented on the recent changes in my desire to dress and asked why the change. Do you find your desire to dress is influenced by the stress in your life, and your opportunity to? If you don't have the time or ability to dress, does the desire get dramatically stronger until you can? What happens when the stress is finally relieved? Do you go right back to your normal desires or are they even stronger?