Dressing appropriately: The age factor

The disapproving murmurs she got from those around her didn’t seem to deter the mother who had two children in the school who buried their heads in embarrassment. She walked all the way to the back row spoke to someone and made her way back to the middle where she was originally seated.
She made this move no less than three times before the forty minute briefing ended. It took the proprietress of the school visibly asking her to leave for her offensive dressing before we were spared of the eyesore.
The murmurs from most present were: ‘didn’t she look in the mirror before she left home?’, ‘who marry this one put for house?’ and ‘why is she embarrassing her children in their school like this?’, amongst others.
With tears in her eyes, her daughter in JS 2 was unable to speak to anyone as she followed her mother out of the hall as she sobbed out of the hall covering her face in her palms midway.
Mrs. Tokunbo Adelaja, a parent who seemed the most irritated and eager to express her discontent said, “as far as I am concerned there is no straight line when it comes to rules about dressing. But that said there are many manners of dressings that are visibly and unarguably inappropriate and the guiltiest of this are us, mothers/women.
“Some of us dress the exact way we dress our children up. If the kids are wearing spaghetti we wear spaghetti the same way they would wear it forgetting that we may be exposing more body parts and ugly sights like stretch marks and all.
The mother of three said, “Even when many of us shop, we shop for the same items we buy for our kids. The only difference may be size and this is not to say that they even buy the appropriate size for themselves. They buy smaller sizes and then try to squeeze into them believing it will give them a trimmer and more chic look. The effect of wearing smaller sized clothing is that they are very, very ill-fitting.”
Summing it up, the marketing executive advised that women should always dress occasion and age appropriate and always look responsible. “Don’t try to dress and fit into your thirteen or sixteen year-old’s style trend and outfits.”
It is not only the womenfolk who are at fault, Mr. Ralph Ezenwen said. “Even men my age sometimes dress in an absolutely embarrassing manner. Imagine a forty five year-old wearing w body-hugging top which ordinarily should be an inner garment. In his bid to make it more fashionable he wears a blazer over it with his fat stomach almost bursting the seams. It’s a most pitiable sight I must say.
He added: There are times when I see older men even ‘sag’ their trousers. The questions I ask are: what part of their childhood or youth was missing that it is at these advanced ages they are exhibiting their youthful exuberances? I also wonder if in their heads they actually consider this fashionable and presentable and what their teenage kids would be doing if they as fathers were dressed this way?
“Some people may say it’s trendy in other parts of the world. But look at the quality of people who dress like this. Would you see the responsible ones do this,” he queried.
Mrs. Mairo Okeke a mother of three described the trend as “very irresponsible even for teens let alone adults. To start with dressing badly is really not something I would attribute to our culture. It’s a sorry sight to see some of them at children’s birthday parties.
The civil servant said, “dress mannerisms speaks a lot about a person’s orientation and values. Therefore, as mothers and role models we need to be cautious the statements we make with our looks so that they don’t misrepresent the really us.”
On possible reasons women dress so, Peace Emezue said, “a lot of mothers feel single girls will take their husbands from them. So, they try to dress that way to make the singles feel they are up to date.’
She, however, said as Africans, our culture demands that women dress properly.
Mr. Crispin Oduobok who describes himself as conservative although with the view that class never goes out of fashion, said, “for my partner, I prefer a modestly-dressed woman.”
Overly-tight what others may call body-hug clothes on a woman are an instant turn-off for the Executive Producer of the Abuja-based monthly socio-cultural hub, ‘The Story Train’, “I detest seeing a woman put her breasts on display in the name of cleavage,”  he said.
Regardless of one’s age or body size, it is possible to dress and look as young and beautiful as a belle without it being offensive and you would still spin heads your way, no matter your age.