Daily Mail - 01.08.2019

(Jacob Rumans) #1
Page 53

THE last time I wore heels was at a wedding
a year ago. If I could walk around barefoot,
I would. The stilettos Mum teeters around
in hurt my feet and stop me having fun — if
I have to dress up, I’ll wear sandals.
As beautiful as Mum is, I think she goes
overboard. She wears too much lipstick
and has a fuchsia coat so bright it
hurts my eyes. I’m quite a tomboy
and stick to minimal make-up: a bit
of mascara, lip gloss and blusher.
It takes me less than half-an-hour
to get ready. She takes at least two.
I know Mum would rather I looked
more ladylike, but, today, attract-
iveness isn’t about high heels and
dresses — it’s about confidence
and showing curiosity in others
and the world around
you. And, although Mum

mocks my work overalls, I’ve found they
are, for reasons even I don’t understand,
something of a man magnet — I’m often
chatted up when I wear them!
In my experience, men of my generation
prefer a laidback look to overt glamour.
It makes them think you’re easier to get
along with.
I was wearing my overalls
when I met my boyfriend in a pub
three months ago — he loves them
because they’re different and defy
boring gender stereotypes.
I refuse to splurge on clothes — I
buy second-hand, as it’s better for
the environment — and don’t like to
go over £20 on any one garment.
Climate change is more important
to my generation.
The last thing I bought was a white

Reebok dress for £1 from a local woman
on Facebook. She even delivered it.
Mum’s outfits are each the price of a
holiday. She may look beautiful in them,
but, to me, they’re a waste of money.
I don’t think she’s offended when I don’t
wear what she buys me... at least, I hope
she isn’t.
Sometimes, her outfit choices for me are
so wildly off-target they’re funny. Once,
she got me a pinstripe suit because she
thought it was ‘sweet’. I took it back and
spent some of the proceeds in the pub.
Do I drop my clothes on the floor?
Hmm, sometimes. I’m too busy to fold
them up and the stuff I wear doesn’t need
ironing. But, although I’m messy (and my
daughter is, too), I’m very clean.
There’s a big difference between being
disorganised and being dirty.

LUCY SAYS: MEN LOVE THIS LOOK, MUM!


femailMAGAZINE 53


M


y daughter
Lucy is a brilliant,
creative woman.
taking after her
artist father, she
certainly has flair.
But, when it comes to her appear-
ance, the end result looks like wild
gypsy-meets-Worzel gummidge.
every fortnight or so, she’ll emerge
from a charity shop, laden down with
armfuls of clothes she’s bought for a
tenner. they typically include such
‘gems’ as a men’s jumper, complete
with holes, a ghastly Crimplene
blouse and a tatty skirt that barely
covers her bottom. ugh.
you might say that doesn’t sound
so unusual for a teenage girl
experimenting with her look.
But Lucy is nearly 40, a brilliant
and responsible mother to her
15-year-old daughter, grace, and —
I’m so sorry to say it, darling —
should know better.
Once, it was daughters who found
their mothers’ clothes embarrassing,
cringing at a twinset or blushing at a
‘mutton-dressed-as-lamb’ outfit and
muttering: ‘you’re not going out in
that, Mum?’
But now the tables have turned.
research has found women over 50
are not only increasingly stylish, but
are spending more than ever on
clothes, while the amount spent on
fashion by those under 50 is falling.
that certainly reflects my sartorially
divided family. I just can’t understand
why Lucy doesn’t seem to care about
how she looks.
Now 65, I feel my own fashion con-
fidence growing: I have enough life
experience to know what suits me.
Four years ago, I suffered a stroke.
It’s a shame that’s what it took to
teach me the importance of healthy
eating, but I have since lost a stone
and shrunk from a size 16 to a 10,
and clothes hang better on me now.
I’m a former teacher and, when
I was Lucy’s age, I was a head of
faculty, a job for which I wore smart
skirts, blouses and jackets.
Off-duty, I still made an effort. yes,
I wore jeans and t-shirts, but they
wouldn’t have had great big holes

by Monica


Troughton


Monica feels more stylish


than ever at 65 – but her


daughter only wants to wear


charity shop overalls. In an


outburst that will chime with


many mothers, she says...


way you


DRESS
Clash: Lucy (left) and mum Monica

Daily Mail, Thursday, August 1, 2019


scruffy


in them and I’d never have my
pants showing over the top.
I remember my mother dress-
ing like an old lady at 60, but
there’s no need for women my
age to look frumpy. I like skinny
black trousers, leather skirts,
stilettos and silk tops from high-
end high Street shops such as
Whistles, the White Company
and French Connection.

T


he look I like is smart
casual with a twist and
I’ll spend hundreds of
pounds on a shopping
trip if I really want something
and know it suits me.
the most I’ve ever spent on a
single clothing item was £500 on
a black leather designer dress. I
wouldn’t dream of going to h&M
or Primark.
My husband, david, 68, under-
stands I dress to please myself
as much as him, but he likes my
clothes and the effect they have
on my confidence. he also enjoys
shopping for his own fashion-
able outfits.
Lucy, unfortunately, does not
take after either of us in that
respect. It’s true she’s never been
short of male attention and her
boyfriend, a graphic designer, is
always in jeans and t-shirts and
loves her madcap clothes.
I just wish she’d dress a bit more
elegantly and show a bit more
pride in herself.
I appreciate finances are tight,
but she refuses my offers of help.

When I spent £140 on new cowboy
boots to replace her battered pair,
she turned up her nose: they were,
apparently, the wrong brand!
I also take good care of what I
buy, fastidiously ironing, folding
and hanging clothes in order to
preserve them. Lucy dumps hers
unceremoniously on the floor.
until recently, if she did it at my
house — we all live in Leamington
Spa in Warwickshire — I would
surreptitiously whisk them away
into the ironing basket, unable to
bear staring at them lying on the

carpet. I’ve stopped doing that
now — I realised I was imposing
my regime on her, which wasn’t
fair — but it still grates.
For work, she wears paint-
spattered overalls — she’s an
interior designer and decorator
— but, instead of changing when
she’s finished, she keeps them on
to meet friends afterwards.
I’d love to see her in a knee-
length skirt with a co-ordinated
top: she would look stunning. Of
course, Lucy isn’t the only woman
her age eschewing glamour for an

‘artfully’ deconstructed look.
the younger generation seem
to believe dressing up destroys
their credibility.
I was brought up to think
showing up looking scruffy was
an insult. Wearing your Sunday
best was taken seriously.
Lucy is so beautiful and I
think she’s doing herself a great
disservice. She’s always hated
looking smart — when she was a
teen, I bought her a pair of smart,
fitted jeans to replace her baggy
ones and she threw them across

the room in disgust. I somehow
knew it wasn’t a phase and tried
to resign myself to it.
grace, her daughter, also dresses
for comfort — in ‘athleisure’ hood-
ies and leggings — but she at least
buys her clothes from high Street
stores rather than charity shops.
With every passing year, Lucy
seems less interested in looking
smart. We’re both feminists, but I
believe women can be strong and
stylish, whereas she sees equality
as looking like one of the lads.
Interviews: ANTONIA HOYLE

Sorry darling,


I detest the


Picture: KATIE WILSON
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