The Three B's

My dad cracks me up. He could not be less interested in fashion, yet he comes up with some sartorial tidbits for me every now and then. He also comments on styles he sees on the street with wonder and curiosity. A funny man.

Recently he cut out a Dear Abby letter from "Reformed Frump in Texas" and gave it to me. I will quote the entire letter here as I found it inspiring and wise.

"Dear Abby: I empathize with 'Loose and Baggy.' When my mom and I would go shopping, it always ended in a big fight with me in tears, I was teased mercilessly by the other children for dressing alike a '40-year-old' and never had the cool things the other kids were wearing even though my clothes cost just as much.

I vowed never to do that with my daughter, and by the time she was 12 she was shopping for her own clothes. Our only rule was that she had to follow the three B's--no butt, no boobs and no belly. At 16 she has an amazing sense of fashion and is often emulated. 'Loose and Baggy' should be given some boundaries and then be allowed to buy what she wants."

My, how wonderful it would be if everyone would follow the three B's. Maybe that could be my new mission in life--to educate people about the B's and enforce their compliance. Such a thing would delight me and save me from sights like yesterday's. My 12-year-old daughter nudged me to look at a girl walking in front of us. She had on a very, very tiny string bikini bottom, a loose top, and sandals. We were far from the beach so what on earth was she thinking? I wanted to cover her up!