Living with the Fashion Police

Caution: This post contains some exaggerations. You may or may not experience this in your own home...YET!

When your kids are little, you can wear anything and they'll give you a compliment. In fact, sometimes you can look ridiculous, wearing your oldest, grossest outfit, and they'll say something sweet about it.

And then they grow. And they get opinions. And they notice that people outside the house tend to dress a little nicer than mommy and the compliments become more rare. Now you only hear a compliment if you're truly dressed up. In my case, it's usually accompanied by a look of shock, like, Oh I forgot mom could look like a real person!

So, I know just exactly how my husband felt this past Sunday. I mean, don't we all go into our closets at times and struggle to find something to wear? There are plenty of clothes, but will they pass the test? If you have teenagers, then you know what test I'm talking about. If you don't, then someday you will. This little post will help you to be more prepared for your future!

Here's the test: Will you get a thumbs up or an eye roll from the teenage fashion police? No notice at all means you're probably safe to go out in public. And receiving an unsolicited compliment from a teen is considered a fashion coup. I've been to known to bask in the afterglow of such a rare occurrence for days!

Anyway, back to my husband's dilemma. Steve doesn't like to get rid of anything. He tends to hold onto clothing until I go through and say things like, you have ten pairs of tan shorts, can we get them down to three? So there are some clothes he should have parted ways with long ago. But, he also hates to shop...you can imagine his pain. In the interest of spreading the love around, he decided to choose some pants and a dress shirt that had seen better days.

First he asked our oldest if his outfit looked okay. She told him it went out of style ten years ago. Not being one to take an obvious hint, he then he asked our second oldest. This child doesn't like to deliver bad news, so he told his dad to ask me. Another child flat out told him it was ugly and another one laughed. I'm telling you, you have to have a strong sense of self to run the fashion gauntlet in our house. Getting down the hallway and through the kitchen can be your death. Needless to say, that outfit and some of its cousins are sitting in the Goodwill bag this morning!

This needs to be the litmus test for all men's clothing in our house: If our sixteen year old son hasn't asked to borrow it, Steve probably needs to rethink owning it! That boy can sniff out a new shirt a mile away and be wearing it the next day. Even it is mixed in with clothes from ten years ago!

Of course, it's easy to make fun of Dad, but believe me I've experienced the thumbs down many times. Trust me it's not for the faint of heart. Being told my outfit is "a khaki mess" springs to mind! It seriously makes you question how you managed to get dressed before these fashionistas arrived. I have been known to wear something all day and then change before the kids arrive home from school just to avoid the looks!

Lucky for us, we have three more kids coming up through the ranks. They might still be giving us a pass now, but they'll pull no punches later. I have a feeling many more pieces of clothing will be making their way into the Goodwill bag!

What's it like in your house? Are you still able to dress without judgement from your offspring? Do you turn to your kids for fashion advice, too?