the dressing room

Hmmm. So yesterday I was talking about a mini melodrama regarding a 7 year old with "nothing" to wear. I got her alone later on and asked her what the problem was. She said she didn't know, so I asked her what she thinks about when she is getting dressed for the day. Like, does she think about wanting to be comfortable, or does she have certain things she thinks are really pretty that she likes to wear, or does she ever pick out something that she thinks someone else will like? She told me that yes, sometimes she just likes to feel comfortable, but she does also think about what other people will think of what she is wearing. I asked if there was anyone in particular whose opinion she cared about, and she told me that she wants to wear something that her big sister Elizabeth will think looks nice. Aha. So I then asked if it mattered to her what her other sister (her twin) Emily thinks about her outfit, and she said, no, she doesn't worry about what Emily thinks. So it's all about what the cool big sister thinks it seems. Next I asked her if Elizabeth - or anyone else for that matter - told her that her outfit looked bad or ugly, would she change what she was wearing? Even if it was something that she personally really really liked? And Kate said she would probably think about changing her clothes.

I think that really sucks. I mean, I suppose lots of us at any age might second guess an outfit if someone told you it looked bad, but at the age of 7, what the hell is she doing worrying about this stuff? Okay, it's harder for me to relate, since I wore a school uniform every day for the first 6 years of my school life. We had to find other things to do battle about besides clothes. I wondered if Kate really pays attention to what other people wear too, so I quizzed her on what some of her classmates had been wearing that day. She was able to tell me immediately and in great detail what each of them had on, which really surprised me.
I will have to quiz the other girls about this, as I am now REALLY curious to hear what they have to say.
I don't know if I pay that much attention to what my peers are wearing.

So how about it? How much thought do you put into what you wear each day, or for an event, a night out, whatever? And what are you thinking about? "Does this make my butt look big?" comes to mind...!