He Says She Says 01/07/10

This week: Is mum the word when it comes to fashion?

He Says:

Like many men, I love a great mother in-law joke. I find them funny - although not overly relatable since mine is a gem - we hardly ever have a cross word. However, we may just come to blows on this; she has expressed her opinion as to how short my wife should wear her skirts. My mother in-law believes that at the age of 46 my wife should not be wearing short skirts, explaining that she looks awful in them. I however think my wife looks great in them and as a fan of skirts over trousers on a woman the higher the better.

So just who should my wife listen to - me or her mother?

My wife has great legs and I see no reason for covering them up on the say of a woman who visits a couple of times a month.

Interfering parents have been responsible for the break up of many relationships and whereas if she was being made to wear clothing she really didn’t want to wear I could understand but my wife who likes to feel feminine wearing a skirt makes her feel good and me too.

I recently asked the question, at what point do I no longer have a say as to what my sixteen-year-old daughter is permitted to wear and decided with the help of our listeners that anything I say from now will be ignored, so I should just let her wear what she feels comfortable in even if I feel that something is perhaps too revealing.

This is very out of character for my mum in-law and I doubt that she will push the issue and it was more of a passing comment but one I think that should have been thought and not spoken.

She Says:

When it comes to fashion advice, I often listen to my other half.

On occasion, I have even been known to call him ‘Gok’, as he’s usually very good at knowing what to wear, which strangely he takes as a compliment! But I think if my mum was staying with me and I was getting ready to go out I would be more likely to ask her if I looked okay.

My reason is that I’m pretty sure she would be more honest. I once came home after having my hair cut from shoulder length to really short and when she saw it she actually said she didn’t like it and that she preferred it before, now that’s honesty!

So if I was to wear something that was short or low cut and she thought that it was inappropriate she would tell me - unlike a partner who would not be advising from a suitability stance or whether I could still carry it off at 38-years-old, they would be doing it on just whether they liked how it looked and if indeed it could be any shorter.

We all know that when it comes to clothes on women men really only have a one track mind; is it short enough, is it low enough and do they look sexy in it which is the complete opposite to what we as women are thinking! We’re looking in the mirror asking ourselves, am I showing too much leg, can you see too much cleavage and what will other women think when they see me?

So for me that’s a good enough reason to listen to your mum and not your partner. 

Read more He Says, She Says here