Why forcing your teenager into a dress is a fashion disaster waiting to happen

Can the hosts of an engagement party in a restaurant really make my 16-year-old daughter wear a dress?

When I received this plea, I had to check the email date was 2026 and not 1826. Perhaps the success of the Netflix series Bridgerton has the party hosts forgetting that a restaurant isn’t a castle and a 16-year-old girl isn’t a Barbie doll dressing for the marriage mart. Forcing a teenager to wear anything that they don’t want to wear is usually as futile and messy as trying to put fake tan back in its bottle.

Dresses aren’t for everyone. The owners of real castles acknowledge this, with women attending investitures and garden parties at Buckingham Palace, for example, now permitted to wear suits or formal jumpsuits befitting the occasion.

If your daughter is more comfortable in trousers, I’d suggest wide-leg or palazzo pants. Team with a silk top or a blazer with a strong silhouette or embellishments for lashings of glamour. Leg-lengthening heels are an option, or she could take the Prada route and opt for loafers or comfortable sandals. Also, a smart black suit with a white shirt has always been a look (Marlene Dietrich pioneered the androgynous tux; Zendaya, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna ran with it).

Countless survivors of bad school uniforms can attest that making teens wear clothes that fail to acknowledge their personalities can be traumatising. Remind your daughter that she can always RSVP no, hit the sofa in tracksuit pants and send a gift instead.

Read more from Damien Woolnough:
Bare knees in the boardroom? Yes, you can wear shorts to work
Dressing for the office: Investment pieces starting at $80
‘Much better dressed’: The brutal verdict on Sydney v Melbourne style

Got a style conundrum? Email damien.woolnough@nine.com.au

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