John Kidde Writes

“I have a grown daughter who is over 40. She has teenage children. My daughter makes wardrobe choices more common for a sexy young 20 year old than for a grown woman.

She is beautiful in her own right, but I think she may be conveying the wrong image to everyone and actually embarrassing her children.

I would like to give her a “makeover.”

I am offering to pay for a hairstyling appointment and some new clothes and shoes. How can I approach this and not hurt her feelings, or is that impossible?

It’s not just her Dad and I that feel this way about her appearance. Other members of the family have also mentioned this to me. — Mom Needs Advice”

Dear Mom:

I know the type of mom your daughter is and as a high school kid I watched with open jaw as they walked on by. I also went to an all boys high school so women weren’t see too much on campus unless they were teachers and when one came on campus it was an event. I bet that’s not what you wanted to hear, is it?

There is no way of sugar coating what you are trying to achieve. By telling her you want to make her over you are saying you don’t approve of her appearance and she would, most likely, be insulted. There is also no guarantee that if you were to let her do it on her own that she would change for the better. She could come out even sluttier.

Have you tried discussing her wardrobe choices with her? Instead of trying to be sneaky about it be open, frank, honest and other synonyms with her. She might respond to that better.

The only other viable option I see is going on What Not To Wear and being made over by a professional…but in typing that I found out that that show has ended it’s run so we’re back to square one!