There are rumours of a handful of boys at school who’ve been bought dresses by their mothers, but not surprisingly the boys in question flat deny the rumours. A couple of boys who live on my street had been reportedly spotted wearing dresses getting in or out of their dad’s car. It turned out that they’re only for ‘best’ and not for playing out in. One of the brothers, Andrew was clearly not happy about having to wear a dress when I mentioned it to him. I mentioned this to my mother and the first thing she said was, “I hope you haven’t been teasing him!”
“Course I haven’t!” I replied. “George Nelson told me he’d seen them and you know what he’s like.”
I explained, George Nelson being a well known tell-tale. “I just asked Andrew if it was true.”
“And what did Andrew say?” Mum asked.
“He said it was true… but he’s not happy about it.” I replied, trying to recall the entire conversation.
“Well I don’t want you teasing him, or his brother.” my mother insisted.
“I won’t.” I assured her. After a brief silence, my mother asked what their dresses were like. “I dunno.” I shrugged. “Like I say, George Nelson told me… I haven’t actually seen them myself.”
A few weeks later, both Andrew and his brother had been spotted first hand by both me and my mother as they walked down the road one Sunday afternoon. “They’re very plain aren’t they.” Mum said as we watched discreetly from the front window.
“They’re horrible.” I gulped as they passed. Each wore a matching knee length dress in blue with a plain white collar and short sleeves. Their legs were clad in white tights and on their feet, a pair of plain blue ‘deck’ style shoes which were the least girlie thing they wore.
“I’m sure you’d rather wear a dress like that than something really pretty.” mum said.
In a way I guess she was right. Some of the boy’s dresses I’ve seen on TV or in shop windows have been horrendous… all pink and frilly with bows and lace here and there. “I’d hate to wear any dress!” I insisted. Mum just smiled at me before peering out of the window to watch Andrew, his brother and their parents disappear from view.
The following day during lunch break, Andrew sauntered over to me and said that he’d noticed me and mum in our front window yesterday. I apologised and told him that we were just looking, not staring. “You looked OK.” I added.
“Thanks.” he frowned. “I felt like a prat but…” he shrugged.