Personal style: What did Mom say?
We all know now it’s a little risky to wear flip-flops to your photo op with the president at the White House. At least that’s the lesson learned after the Northwestern University lacrosse players’ visit with George Bush made headlines a couple years ago.
“Don’t even ask me about the flip-flops,” groaned one player’s mother to the media. “It mortified me.”
A casual look at the White House. (AP photo)
We’ve probably all had times when we gleefully (or secretly) mortified Mom. My mom’s rule: no pierced ears. Unless, of course, I wanted to pierce my nose as well. (That was long before nose-piercing days.)
But I did it anyway when I went to college – a dorm-room event with a needle, potato and daring roommate. No fool, she noticed when I returned home for Thanksgiving, despite furtive efforts to hide my ears. She just smiled and shrugged: “I thought you needed something to rebel against... “
Many of our mother’s “rules” still echo in our heads as we buy clothes or plan our wardrobes. A friend at work wrestled with the “no white shoes (or bags) after Labor Day” dictate, but younger women she met were shocked at the thought.
I asked around the office and found fashion etiquette for the ages:
Don’t wear patent leather in the winter
Never wear black (or white) to a wedding
Never wear a short dress to a “Black Tie”
Always wear clean underwear (the accident rule)
Make sure your shoes and bag match
Wear brown shoes with brown stockings, black shoes with black stockings
Always wear a slip with skirts or dresses
Never leave home without putting on your lipstick
Avoid horizontal stripes – they add pounds
Remember V-necks are slimming
Never wear plaids with stripes, pink with red and blue with green
Some are common sense; others have gone commando with Britney.
Rules are made to be broken, right?
Still, like my friend, I can’t wear white shoes after Labor Day.
And I’ve never regretted the ears.
But flip-flops with “W”? Hmmm...
E-mail this entry to a friend
Subscribe