Wearing clothes inside out by accident
Wearing clothes inside out was once taken seriously, since turning a garment was an old way to break a spell. Today it is more a sign of a rushed morning, and of who around you is kind enough to mention it.
What it may mean
A shirt on inside out is a rare mistake that everyone around you sees before you do. The seams show, the tag sticks up at the neck, and somebody has to decide whether to say something. Old folklore treated the reversal as powerful. In Denmark you turned your cap inside out when a will-o'-the-wisp appeared, as the best safeguard against it, and a countryman in the Canary Islands who feared witches turned the waistband of his trousers inside out. Reversing a garment was a way of breaking a spell. Today the spell is autopilot: a dark room, an early start, a mind already at work. The more interesting part of the moment may be the person who tells you, softly, before the meeting starts. You might think about who does that for you, and for whom you do it.
Depending on how you saw it
Noticing it yourself halfway through the day
The writer Jonathan Swift, a 1903 collection says, would never change a garment he found he had put on wrong side out. Some people laugh and switch it at once; others leave it for the rest of the day. When you find a small mistake late, do you fix it right away or let it ride?
A sweater inside out at work
A coworker leaning in to whisper about your seams is doing you a small favor that costs them an awkward second. Plenty would rather stay silent. How do you like to be told about something only others can see?
A child who dressed alone
Small children often come down to breakfast with shirts inside out and very proud faces. Fixing it can wait; dressing alone was the achievement. Where could you let someone do it their own way, seams and all?
Why it happens in nature
Knit shirts, socks and leggings often look nearly the same on both sides, especially in dim light or in a hurry, and many basics now print the label instead of sewing in a tag, which removes the usual clue. Some people also turn clothes inside out on purpose before washing to protect colors and prints.
What folk beliefs say
Denmark
In Denmark, will-o'-the-wisps were believed to be the spirits of unrighteous men, and the best safeguard when one appeared was to turn your cap inside out.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 2 (1903), vol. 2, p. 952. View the page
Canary Islands
In the Canary Islands, a countryman who was afraid of witches would turn the waistband of his trousers wrong side out.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1450. View the page
Ireland (Jonathan Swift)
Jonathan Swift, Dean of St Patrick's in Dublin and author of Gulliver's Travels, would never change a garment if he found he had put it on wrong side out.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 430. View the page
To reflect on
Who tells you about the tag sticking out, and who do you do that for?