“You’re not going out dressed like THAT? “

I'm just old-fashioned. While I applaud Ms Ledsom's coat, (lovely and colourful) I think that her skirt is too short. (I used to have to talk to trainee teachers about "professional dress" - but then perhaps senior MPs never have to bend over, stretch up, or crouch down!)

Don't like A l coat, but nothing wrong with hair and makeup, as far as i can see

My DGD once had that remark from her mum. Guess whose outfit she was wearing. Yes, her mum's.

I hasten to add that GD was in her late teens at the time.

Back in the 60s my dad said, "That's not a skirt! It's a pelmet!"

My word that skirts short, have to be careful bending over the filing cabinet!

I'm not keen on AL's coat as it's too jazzy for my staid taste but at least she's made an effort which is more than could be said about the chap.
In my late teens I wore what I thought was a nice dress which flared in an (A line style?) in a caramel colour, hemline just above the knee. Dad said, "You look a right b.....r" in that!" Well, thanks.

Remember the bus driver telling me to get some clothes on, I was about 15 short skirt halter neck top [embarrassed]

I remember putting a longer skirt over my mini skirt to leave the house in!

I well remember saying to DD1 'You aren't going to Granny's in those awful old jeans' and her replying 'Yippee I don't want to go anyway'. And now she sends parallel photos of GD1 's first and last days at school with her infant school sweatshirt comes reaching twice as near to her knees at age 5 than her skirt does at age 18.

Agree re Andrea Ledsom's skirts being too short. Like the coat.

I was 20 when I bought my white stiletto winkle pickers. My Dad went up the wall. You'd have thought I'd be soliciting on the nearest street corner. My Mum was rather quiet on the subject. I think she quite liked them!

I like the coat.
My parents never knew exactly what I was wearing as I hitched my skirts up when I left the house & had a spare- low cut- top hidden in my bag.
It was my Mum who gave me the idea! She told me that during the war (& she was only 15 or 16 at the time) she hitched her skirt up & painted lines on her legs with eyebrow pencil when she was round the corner from home as she was not allowed to wear stockings or makeup.
Girls will a;ways be girls!!

It’s all down to personal taste, isn’t it? I dislike AL’s outfit altogether, but I think Ms McVey looks much more stylish, whereas there will be other GN’s who think the opposite. As for DC, well his look mirrors his attitude in general, I think.

I’m not a Tory, but I have always loved the way Teresa May dresses and accessorises her clothes.
Andrea Leadsome just looks tarty

Yes that's it in a nutshell Mapleleaf

I remember commenting on teenage daughter's outfit and wondering if she would be cold in her abbreviated outfit on N.Y. eve. I still recall the eye roll and ' oh mother '.
My eldest was very much into horses so rarely wore anything but jodhpurs or old jeans, but did she smell !!

I am afraid I have said this to my DD on many an occasion and would still like to but daren't as she is over 40!

My mother never said this in the fifties as there were no sexy or outrageous clothes available really. She slaved for hours making me elegant and flattering dresses. She had great taste and taught me a lot.

Why does a non-elected person attend cabinet meetings?

Brought back a memory from 1970,walking along Princes St in Edinburgh with a friend. I lifted my arm to point at something and My jumper rode up a little, a very young police officer, even to me at 16,told me to put my jacket on or he would arrest me, not joking. I did but my jacket was shorter than my jumper. There was no skin showing except possibly half an inch when I lifted my arm.
I was quite upset until my Dad pointed out that he had probably been watching my friend and I, and wanted to talk to us.
Probably the weirdest chat up line ever.

My dad used to look at my mini skirt in the 1960s and inquire whether it was a short skirt or a wide belt. ?

SO looks mutton dressed as lamb. Skirt too short, knee highs more suitable for younger version and not keen on the coat. EAcH looks smart and classic. DC beyond the pale.

Always arguments about my miniskirts. Was made to take back the low cut black dress which I wanted to pull in. Told it was tarty! I was 19.

Hm999 I was wondering that too. He is not a member of the current cabinet.

My dad said that to me when I was sixteen, and I went anyway. Got home at midnight and the front door was locked and a bag of my clothes on the doorstep, so had to spend the night at a friend’s.

The problem is that Andrea Leadsom has old lady hair, old lady makeup and not the most youthful of faces. She appears to have a great body, and the coat is lovely but over the knee boots and a mini skirt do her no favours.

Forgot the main point of the post. My parents used to be very approving when I went out in one of the original Laura Ashley dresses - maxi length with a full skirt and a buttoned bodice. The thought it looked very prim and proper . My boyfriend thought it was great and practical for reasons they would not have approved of!