Alters do they see themselves or me

My alters are very aware and accept that I am the adult or the core self. Even at that, they want to have clothes that they like and we have compromised with adult clothes that might have a Pooh on it. One of my younger alters really wants their style. Do the alters see themselves in their young bodies when they are out or do they see the 60 year old body? Any ideas on how I can get them to really understand the appropriateness of one style for them is not appropriate for what other people would see a 60 year old wear.

most if not all my alters were what we call categorical....(the dsm calls it distinct) that means they had their own jobs, purposes, reasons for being and way of being..

in other terms that meant that they had their own...
thoughts
reactions
jobs
purposes
reasons why they were there
clothing style
preferences
way of perceiving their self and their environment..

in other words yes they had their own idea of what they looked like. but because they also resided with in my body they also knew what I looked like.

example Red perceived herself and showed herself to the world by wearing clothing that contained the color red or black, had an angry attitude, when in control of the body the posture was full out anger, image of herself was a strong firm body, long brown hair...but she knew she lived inside of a body that was average and I preferred a variety of neutral colors with an occasional splash of color.

because of the diagnostic criteria here in america every internal system of alters has at least two alters that do have their own job, purpose, reason for being, their own way of being and perceiving their environment.

some like me have lots more others only have two and others have alters that are in between two categorical alters and a whole internal system of categorical alters.

I know some people who only have two of these type alters and the rest are alters that are not so vastly different from the host. I know people who's whole internal system of alters were categorical. everyones internal system is how ever they needed it to be in order to survive.

We see ourselves our own bodies. Our 12
Year old can feel where teeth are still missing. Our 17 yr old feels her braces. Our 5 tr olds feel short and cant reach up high. We all see ourselves as individuals.

We only see our selves in our eyes or in our head. I don't often look in the mirror but when I do I see my body at 56 years of age. Today in session my t asked me to look at my hand. It look like it was 56 years old. I explained to my t that the body is 56 and the others are the age they believe themselves to be. This is because we are locked in time by our memories. We hold memories from moments in our life and remain in that moment. Most of us that is. There are others that are in the world and know what to say and how to present. I will sometimes see something I want to wear but than the ones in the world remind me that the body is 56 and what I might want to wear might draw attention to us. Or cause someone to question us. Right now we mostly wear jeans and shirts. We stopped wearing skirts and dresses about 25 years ago. It never felt right. I hope something I sad helped. I sorta babbled.

Thank you starry_night and Claritytoo. I really appreciate it. My T tried to have the alters look at themselves when they were out and they wouldn't. I kept switching. I wondered if they would see a reflection and hand of me at 60 some or see what they visualize themselves to be. Do you think having them see that when out, they are in my old body and not theirs? I just don't know if the understanding is there. By the way, I haven't worn a dress in about that long also. When my daughter was married I asked if I need to wear one and she graciously said no a pantsuit would work. Thank goodness.

My others always perceived themselves as themselves in their mind's eye, but when looking in the mirror most often saw the body as it was. I say 'most often' because some did have a distorted view of what was in the mirror... a kind of superimposition, I guess, of what they wanted to see and what they really saw. I think of it like the distorted view of an anorexic.
When looking down at the body they could physically see the body for what it was, but some also maintained a view that was partially distorted by how they felt themselves to be.

My t explained to me that I am still dissociating the body because I understand it to be it's own entity and that the rest of us are in the mind. She asked me if it would be ok to video a session than view it and discuses it. No one wanted to do that. The minute she said it I felt fear and like I needed to defend myself. I felt attacked. I told my t no before she could finish the sentence. I said no over and over. My t said that that was fine and that we don't have to do it. She said she just thought it might help us to move forward. I have looked in the mirror in the past and not recognized myself. It frightened me greatly. That is when I stopped looking in the mirror unless I needed to. When that happened I didn't know I was DID. I think that is why it scared me so much. It makes me wonder if I should try looking in the mirror to see if it helps us. Maybe I will. Anyway, if anything I have said helped you I am glade. Take care.

Thank you all for your input. Claritytoo that is the same reaction I am getting from my alters. But after listening to you, I wonder if maybe it would help for them to look in the mirror when out. They know they share my body but maybe that would help them understand what others would see if they dressed entirely like they want to and not compromise on the clothing selections. I will probably try it and see if it helps,

One time our t was goofing around with one of the inside boys just bein silly. Thy were playing with her new phone. She took some video of him bein silly ,& of one of the toddlers. When she played it back, the boy was so upset that he was in a grown up girl body. He didnt realize it. It was pretty hard on him.

Starry_Night thanks. I bet that was upsetting and I'm sure it would be for my alters also. I never thought of that side of the reprocussions. Guess I better move slowly and more deliberately with it.