saw a post talking about how ryland mostly wore thick layers+lots of them on earth, and switched almost immediately too t-shirts etc on the Hail Mary. Now this post was talking in a ahh objectifying manner, which isn't the purpose of my post.
I think all the layers points very nicely to the fact that Ryland is always hiding away on Earth. Trying to cover himself up as much as he can. San Fran isn't exactly cold, most of the places he went aren't exactly cold, but when you don't want to be perceived you tend to wrap yourself up as much as you can. It also points to me to him being some level of touch aversive and this IS a hill i will die on; that he's touch averse.
Speaking as a touch averse person myself, i usually try to cover up as much as reasonable and put as many layers of clothes between myself and other people. I also wear baggy/dark colored clothes to be less percieved. When i live in cooler climates I tend to wear a jumper most of the time regardless of if I actually need it.
Obviously in Space you don't have to worry about being percieved or being touched. Even on Erid, he literally doesn't have to worry about being touched. He also needs to hide himself less. Both physically and mentally he needs to protect himself less.
I just think it's a really interesting detail. The wardrobe department did amazing in the movie and really created sooo much nuance. I also believe the same thing with Eva where she is constantly wrapped in comfortable layers. Both to add a layer of seperation/barrier, and to avoid casual touch.
