A woman was left confused when her daughter purchased some clothes which she deemed as ‘inappropriate’, only for her ex to get involved when she told the teen she couldn’t wear some shorts
Remember when you were a teen and you wanted to push the boundaries of fashion, wearing things that sometimes made your parent’s toes curl?
From super short dresses to cropped tops, dyed hair, heavily drawn-on eyebrows, see-through leggings and more, some have joked that fashion faux pas’ are a “rite of passage” for teenagers. But this doesn’t make it easier for parents who are currently navigating their own kids going through this period of time.
One mum said that her 14-year-old got her own money and decided to purchase some clothes with it. “As the new clothes have arrived and I’ve seen them in person I have been holding myself back from commenting on the ‘appropriateness’ of some of the items”, the mum penned on Mumsnet.
She explained that “one of the dresses she ordered was extremely short and low at the top, she wore this to a family day out to an occasion where the dress was completely out of place.” She “didn’t say anything”, as she didn’t want to ruin her “confidence”, so she told her she “liked the pattern and the colour” and left it at that.
“However she recently tried to wear a pair of shorts out of the house that are a very short style and also too small for her so very, very revealing at the back”, she explained. “I tried to tell her tactfully that I thought they might a bit too short. When she didn’t take the hint and change I told her bluntly that she wasn’t allowed out wearing them because they were too short.”
The 14-year-old turned the comment into a huge “drama”, and then refused to speak to her mum. Her daughter’s dad, who she isn’t with anymore, even got involved saying she was “cruel” to comment, saying she’d “crushed her confidence”.
She continued: “I feel like this is just a right of passage for teens and can certainly remember my mum telling me I couldn’t wear certain clothing out the house and I wasn’t scarred for life, I feel like as a parent and responsible adult I have a right to veto clothing outside the house if it’s really not appropriate.” She then asked if she was unreasonable.
In the comments, other mums of teens waded in and gave their opinions. One wrote: “I do feel though there is a trend for everyone to wear 2 sizes too small.”
Someone else said there “has to be a level of decency” when it comes to clothing, wondering why “bums hanging out” seemed to be fashionable at the moment.
Another mum disagreed though, saying: “Why are they too short or inappropriate? Men spend half the summer with their tops off and it’s acceptable. We’ve got into a situation where girls have to cover up for fear of what people might think. This cannot be how we teach our girls to behave.”
A Mumsnetter said: “Sometimes we have to tell our children bluntly, not to hurt but to educate. In the future point out mannequins or other women’s outfits or online things around the shopping centre and say why you like them. Drop things in like my mum used to ‘legs or boobs, but not both’ and other silly things.”
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