Chloe S/S 09 as seen on Style.com
Dear Fanny,
I bought some harem pants and wore them last night with what I thought was casual insouciance. I wore them with a boyfriend jacket and a long t-shirt underneath. However, my children laughed when I came downstairs and prepared to leave the house. Normally they laugh in a amused way, but this was nasty. Then my daughter said, “You honestly do look ridiculous.”
But do I, Fanny? How does my daughter know what people wear at the Shoreditch House? Surely I have to push my boundaries now or people will think I have given up on fashion. I am 45, what do you advise?
Yours,
Mata Hari
Dear M.H,
You must try out the pants in public. Only then will you truly know how ridiculous or not, you look. It is vital not to be scared off trends by your teenage children. As the years roll on, they will adopt the role once taken by your parents. You did not give in to your mother over the green plastic boiler suit? Why give in to your daughter now. The truth is, youngsters don’t know what’s really going on in the Adult Fashion World. In fact, few people really do, as we all know, the gap between what magazines tell us to wear and what we really wear is enormous. You must stick to the same system of trial and error that you have always used. I myself still venture out in outfits that I end up feeling ridiculous in, from time to time. But, I go home, get changed and make a mental note to shelve the bad ensemble. Simple as that.
The day we stop trying stuff out – whatever it is, is the day we might as well dig a hole and lie down in it.