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Nothing like a teenage daughter to keep you humbled…

404 replies

JamieOliverPetrolStation · 19/07/2026 20:45

I leaned into the culottes and polka dot trend this season and was delighted with this bargain in Sainsburys last week. I thought I looked great. Effortless and summery chic etc etc. Until 14yo DD looked up at me with withering disdain and asked why was I dressed like a Tombliboo.

We had a similar situation last year when I bought a striped teeshirt and they called me Bagpuss for the whole summer.

OP posts:
hairstreak · Yesterday 12:04

So many of these are brilliant 😂 such a turn of phrase, amazing. OP's daughter is spot on about the tombliboos, oh dear 🙈😂

For those worried about rudeness - don't you think that the families concerned must have a generally light-hearted attitude towards fashion, and a relationship that allows for a bit of good-natured teasing? It's abundantly clear that this is the case in almost every post.

Kadiofakit · Yesterday 12:04

Puppylucky · Yesterday 11:42

I'm having a total sense of humour failure about this thread. I just don't find rude teen daughters undermining their mothers funny. How do you all put up with it?

I would just love to hear the conversations in your home, do you not ever have banter with your kids? Yes taken out of context it can sound rude but fgs, it's just a bit of fun. I don't think no one on this thread would allow there teenagers to constantly put them down.

snowgirl1 · Yesterday 12:06

Love this thread - so funny! I get lots of "just...no" from my teenage DD.

I do give as good as I get though - she recently bought one of those bikinis that show quite a bit of bum cheek. I said she should return it as they'd sold her a second...the manufacturer had accidentally sewn two bikini-bottom fronts together.

ToadRage · Yesterday 12:08

JamieOliverPetrolStation · 19/07/2026 20:45

I leaned into the culottes and polka dot trend this season and was delighted with this bargain in Sainsburys last week. I thought I looked great. Effortless and summery chic etc etc. Until 14yo DD looked up at me with withering disdain and asked why was I dressed like a Tombliboo.

We had a similar situation last year when I bought a striped teeshirt and they called me Bagpuss for the whole summer.

A Tombliboo, i am crying with laughter and my husband just said 'what's that?'

Ponoka7 · Yesterday 12:09

Kadiofakit · Yesterday 12:04

I would just love to hear the conversations in your home, do you not ever have banter with your kids? Yes taken out of context it can sound rude but fgs, it's just a bit of fun. I don't think no one on this thread would allow there teenagers to constantly put them down.

One allowed her 22 year old son to spend the day pointing at older women because they had floral dresses on. No 22 year old lad gets to police what older women wear. It should have been shut down.

spiderlight · Yesterday 12:17

My DS, when he was a pre-teen, once looked at me in a lovely (I thought) new jumper and said 'Was that the only size they had?'

JamieOliverPetrolStation · Yesterday 12:24

Kadiofakit · Yesterday 12:04

I would just love to hear the conversations in your home, do you not ever have banter with your kids? Yes taken out of context it can sound rude but fgs, it's just a bit of fun. I don't think no one on this thread would allow there teenagers to constantly put them down.

Well, yes. We take the piss out of each other quite comfortably but we're never cruel. There's a distinction. It's also an important social skill to be able to laugh at yourself and I'm glad I've passed this on to my kids otherwise they'd be the type people might avoid at social gatherings. I wonder if some people on the thread have ever known a teenager. They're very funny people.

Anyway, I've a busy afternoon ahead and I better run before I miss the Ninky Nonk. Side note, someone on here years ago I think said Iggle Piggle looks like David Cameron. Once you see it...

OP posts:
Soonbbbqweather · Yesterday 12:25

Many years ago I had a striped jumpsuit - away it went when I was referred to as Andy Pandy!

ThreeLocusts · Yesterday 12:27

'Like a cow who is a ballerina'. That was my daughter describing the way I run. I think she was about 14? Now 18 and she can still turn a phrase.

I feel almost disconcerted now that I don't get more commentary on my wardrobe from my daughters. Do they think me beyond redemption?

Thanks everyone for the laugh!

aintnothinbutagstring · Yesterday 12:37

My daughter showed me a tiktok video of a load of mums on the train with floral maxi dresses, denim jackets and white trainers and the caption was 'you know you'll be safe on the train with this lot'. I love a pattern - I try to also buy plain stuff but cant help my love of all patterns - paisley, polka dot, stripe, floral, I just love them all. Thankfully my teen dd is full on Y2K fashion so she has a fair amount of patterned clothing herself. I try to avoid the maxi dress and white trainer combo but good to know younger people feel safer in the presence of a mum gang!

BauhausOfEliott · Yesterday 12:40

Puppylucky · Yesterday 11:42

I'm having a total sense of humour failure about this thread. I just don't find rude teen daughters undermining their mothers funny. How do you all put up with it?

It's not 'rude teen daughters undermining their mothers', though, really. Bear in mind that tone might not come across in writing. I would guess that in most cases this is just families affectionately joking around with each other. Surely most families tease each other a bit in a lighthearted way?

I was a teenager at the height of grunge and I remember coming downstairs in a second-hand oversized plaid flannel shirt one day and my dad quietly singing 'Oh, I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK...' from Monty Python. I also remember when I was a student and there was a trend for military-style coats, and when he came to collect me to take me home for Christmas he said 'Am I only taking you, or are we waiting for the rest of the battalion?' 😂

I also remember that my dad wore a cream/pale beige suit to my graduation (it was boiling hot and he looked amazing) and when I greeted him I said 'Hello hello, it's Our Man In Havana'.

Pinkclarko · Yesterday 12:57

I once collected my daughter from school wearing a bobble hat and she asked me not to wear it again. So I said fine, tomorrow I’ll wear two at once.

I mean I didn’t, I’m not deranged but I certainly won’t be held hostage by the opinions of someone who’s barely lived yet 😁

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · Yesterday 13:00

TBH I don’t think any cut-off culottes look good even on the size 8, 5’ 10” models they typically use.

GratefulThanks · Yesterday 13:03

I wore what I thought was quite an edgy trouser suit in tweed boucle from MaxMara to an important occasion a few years ago.

DD, when I questioned one of her fashion choices at a later date, “well it’s better than that old carpet you wore to ——-“

Ouch.

EternalFogInMyNotSoSpoltlessMind · Yesterday 13:09

My DH regularly tells me I look like a Ceebies presenter. I think it's my love of Lucy and Yak. 😂

itsgettingweird · Yesterday 13:11

Currently spending a few days in a city a few hundred miles away from home and seeing the teenage girls walking around with skirts and shorts with arse checks hanging out the bottom of actually be grateful for them to comment negatively on my style. Because if they thought I looked “cool” like them ……… 😉

DramaAlpaca · Yesterday 13:14

I don't have daughters, but I sometimes get comments from the usually lovely men in my life.

Back in the late 80s, tried on a cute black mini dress which had black flowers sewn around the neckline and hem - then boyfriend (now DH) told me I looked like a fairy on her way to a funeral. I didn't buy it; still regret that one.

I was about to go out wearing my long black leather coat - adult DS asked me if I realised I looked like a stormtrooper. To be fair, I probably did. When he first saw me in my beige trench coat he asked me if I was planning a trip to Gallipoli.

Male bestie when I showed him a corduroy jacket I was thinking of buying: 'that'd go well with a pair of lederhosen'. I didn't buy that, either.

Same bestie: 'Oh, you're wearing your Thomas the Tank Engine trousers again!' I still don't know what he meant, but it was enough for me to put them on Vinted.

A friend has a pre-teen daughter who doesn't hold back. If she doesn't approve of something her mum is wearing she tells her it's 'offensive'. Ouch.

EssCarGo · Yesterday 13:15

My daughter looked at me yesterday and went ‘you look like Noel Fielding BUT NOT IN A BAD WAY’

Is there a good way?? 🤣🤣

DoraSpenlow · Yesterday 13:18

I once went into work wearing a very fluffy pink jumper and beige skinny jeans. My boss looked at me and said he had a sudden yearning for some candy floss.

He came in one morning in a long black leather trench coat. Later on one of his managers came in to ask if Herr Flick could spare him a few minutes.

ForDucksSake · Yesterday 13:18

I bought a navy beret a couple of winters ago. Images of swanning around looking effortlessly chic and Parisian were squashed when DD called me Pierre every time I wore it.

Topcooler · Yesterday 13:20

Putyourfeckingsockson · 19/07/2026 21:35

Please, please, please op can you tell us all what this means? 🤣🤣🤣

The tombliboos live in a very big bush in the night garden and they like building with their blocks. So that is what OP is going to do. 🤣

Additup · Yesterday 13:40

BauhausOfEliott · Yesterday 10:36

How does a kid born in 2012 know who Bagpuss is?!

My children, all only a few years older know who Bagpuss is because I indoctrinated them when they were younger 😁

YvieYfronts · Yesterday 13:41

This thread is excellent. My daughter, 6 years old, came after a few sons and it's been a sobering journey so far with her cutting feedback sometime.

While it can be brutal, I'm glad she feels confident enough to express herself (or so I keep telling myself! 😅)

Additup · Yesterday 13:46

Optimisticdramalarma · Yesterday 10:16

Not my teenagers (they where bad enough) but my father

My mother's birthday was coming up and she wanted 'a nice outfit' rather than his normal fall back of present of jewellery

Being a bit (lot) clueless about ladies clothes,he asked my aunt if she'd come shopping with him (and to be fair,she has amazing taste)

Together the picked out the most gorgeous red top and matching red skirt (my mother used to be a really large lady)

Got home,wrapped it up and proudly gave it to her on the day

She shot upstairs to try it on,came back down and did a twirl in front of us

We where well trained and did the 'you look lovely' but my father says what comes into his head

'Oh love,you look lovely,just like a big,fat letterbox!'

She threw the biggest tantrum (she's a narcissist) took it off,threw it at him and started screaming at us

I had to take her back upstairs and use some of her other clothes to tone it down a bit (and she did look much nicer when not dressed head to toe in red)

I mean she did look like a letterbox-it looked a lot nicer on the hanger but there was no need to scream like that

Years ago,long before I came along(early 70's),my mother,father and (same) aunt had gone shopping

My aunt tried on some dungarees and made the massive mistake of asking my parents what they thought

'You look lovely our lass' (my mother)

'You look just like a big,fat lady sumo lady,mud wrestler' (my father)

She didn't buy them and he's still puzzled as to why!

TBF getting upset because your tactless DH says you look like a 'big, fat letterbox' in front of a roomful of people sounds perfectly reasonable and not in anyway narcissistic!!

AmaryllisNightAndDay · Yesterday 13:48

"Well dear, I am an old lady".

I find it very funny that beige and faded pastels and plain fabrics are so cool for young women now and patterns are for the old. Because of course when I was young it was exactly the other way round. And that's the point, isn't it? They wont wear what we wore. They might wear what our mothers wore.

I still feel nostalgic for United Colours of Benneton. Though I have to admit that Lucy and Yak are a step too far for me. That combination of hippie fabrics and romper-suit styles, like the ultimate brown-rice middle-class mum dressing her toddler for nursery. I love the fact that the staff (young and often a bit blue-haired and gender-diverse) are kitted out in the stock.

My 16 year old steals my clothes and I never see them again.

That's the only situation in which I would invest in a Lucy and Yak outfit and pop it in my wardrobe. Cold-blooded revenge.