Mary Killen Mary Killen

Your Problems Solved | 25 June 2005

Etiquette advice from The Spectator's Miss Manners

issue 25 June 2005

Dear Mary…

Q. The new fashion of women wearing pants (sic) that do not fit properly and reveal their underwear is in full flight here. There is no hope for the young, who will slavishly follow whatever is in fashion, regardless of how stupid it looks. However, we have a friend in her late thirties or early forties. She is still quite an attractive women for her age, but not so attractive that she should be wearing these sorts of things. What can we say to her, without appearing to be perverts or fuddy-duddies, to stop her wearing her pants so that her g-string underpants and the top part of her buttocks are showing to all and sundry?
M. and K.M., Queensland, Australia

A. One school of thought holds that people’s sartorial lapses should be welcomed, not suppressed. In an age where cosmetic surgery is impeding full communication, they offer vital non-verbal clues to compatibility.

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