Would you let your mum pick out your clothes?
Mum’s trust their daughter’s opinion when it comes to style choices above anyone else, according to recent research but daughters are on the fence about trusting their mothers.
Despite the fact that 47% of women aged 19-34 admit to being envious of their mum’s sense of style, two fifths would never trust their mum to shop for an outfit for them unsupervised. Not only is this because they don’t trust their mum’s judgment, but a third are also embarrassed by their mum’s behaviour and what they say, according to the research from Gray & Osbourn.
Psychologist Honey Langcaster-James discusses the style bonds between mums and daughters and shares some advice on how we can make a stronger bond.
Why do women care more of what their daughters think in terms of style?
I think one of the reasons women trust their daughters is because they know that their daughters can relate to what it feels like to be a woman and to want to look good and the fact that certain things might suit you more than others. So I think women will trust their daughters advice because they can relate to them but I think also women trust their daughters more than they trust their friends or their partners or their sons because they know that their daughters are going to be absolutely brutally honest with them about what they look like in something, partly because daughters don’t like to be embarrassed by what their mothers look like but also because they I think have that trust in the relationship and with the close bond between a mother and daughter, a mother can be sure to get a really honest opinion.
Why are daughters more reluctant to trust their mother’s judgement?
Well it is interesting because quite a high percentage, about 50% of women said that they would not trust their mum to buy clothes for them in their absence so obviously daughters don’t necessarily think that their mums know what looks best on them and I think that might be because daughters see their mothers as being from a different generation and perhaps they don’t know what current trends or current styles are. So I think daughters are less ready to accept their mothers opinions and yet younger daughters do seem to trust their mothers opinions and even borrow their clothes, I know my daughter borrows my clothes from time to time. So I think there is a shift that happens that as the daughter gets older, there tends to be a shift where women then will trust their daughter’s opinion more.
How can daughters learn to trust their mothers more?
I think daughters can trust their mother’s opinion to at least have their best interests at heart and certainly when they ask their mothers if they look good in something I think they can trust their mothers to be honest because mothers generally want what is best for their daughters. But I think one of the ways that women can in general trust their mothers opinions more is if they spend more time perhaps shopping together or looking online at websites and online fashion retailers like Gray & Osbourn for example so that you can talk about what you both like and what looks good on each other. Especially if there is any kind of special event coming up – that can be a great way to sit down over a cup of tea and just chat through the different styles and say what do you like, and that way share their opinions more with each other.
Why do you think that women look to celebrities for style inspiration?
I think historically women will always look at other women for style inspiration and obviously when it comes to looking at celebrities we get lots of photographs in magazines or online about what the celebrities are wearing and so I think it is easier in that way to look at celebrities and say ‘do I like what she is wearing and does she look good in it?’. Obviously you are then opening yourself up to the opinions of the media about who looks good in what and also you can be wearing the most fabulous outfit but the paparazzi can always catch someone at a really terrible moment. But I think women generally look to female figures in the media, celebrities and such like because it is a role model that they can use to work out what they like on the celebrity and hence what might look good on them. Despite the fact that many daughters don’t necessarily trust their mother’s opinion; the Gray & Osbourn research found that 77% of women would trust their daughters to buy them clothes in their absence.