When they return to the holiday cottage, James shows off his new frock and Peter is relieved that his mother hadn’t decided to buy him one anyway… a thought which had lingered in the back of his mind all day long.
Over the course of the week long holiday, James wore a dress most days. Michael wore one of his on two occasions; the day they visited Crickley Hall and the evening they went to a posh restaurant for a slap up meal. Of course the subject of boys in dresses and the genderquake came up on many occasions. Peter’s mother continued to feel that dresses for boys was just a passing fad and would all be in the past before long, but his aunt felt quite the opposite, and rather eloquently explained how the roles of males and females were being irrevocably reversed.
Uncle George takes the boys for a day of go-kart racing on the last full day of their holiday… it’s one of the few days James wears traditional boys clothes. As Helen and Jo wave them off, Helen says, “It seems strange seeing James in jeans… I’d got so used to him wearing one of his dresses.”
“He wears them often enough.” Jo replies, “He loves his frocks but if he thinks he might get one dirty he’ll sacrifice a pair of his old pants instead.”
“So… how did you go about it, when you bought them their first dresses?” Helen asks. “Do they choose their own or do you always buy for them?”
“At first I just bought them one each and insisted they wore them… they were both reluctant, but once it was on, James took to it like a duck to water. Michael was more hesitant, and still is… but after I’d bought him 3 or 4 really prissy dresses, he soon decided to become more proactive in choosing his own, and believe me, he’d much rather wear a dress that he’d picked over one of my choices.” she explained. “Are you thinking of taking the plunge with Peter?”
“Well… if it doesn’t turn out to be a passing fad, I suppose I’ll have to sooner or later… I just want to do it properly and avoid traumatising him.”
“I really don’t think he’ll be ‘traumatised’ if you buy him a dress… it’s only an item of clothing.” Jo replies. “I read an article in Good Parenting magazine about parents’ starting their boys off lightly; buying say a plain blue frock to start with, and gradually working them up to prissy pink party dress.”
“Well that sounds logical.” Peter’s mother says.
“I may sound logical but it doesn’t work like that… if they hate the plain blue frock than the likelihood of them even accepting the more prissy styles is virtually nil.” she replied, “The best bet is to start them off with a really pretty frock, all satin and bows and frills; preferably in pink or peach… once he’s worn that a few times, you’ll have no problem putting him in something a little less fussy.”
