Good Dress for Less

Father's Day has come and gone and I'm richer for it. I had a wonderful day with the family, the sun was shining and I got cards and gifts. A pair of slippers! There's something about slippers that signify that you now favour comfort over style. That you're now ready to sit with the paper in your favourite comfy chair whilst the world rushes by around you. All you need next is a pipe to complete the ageing process. But wait! These are trendy, fashionable slippers, claimed to be the most stylish and comfortable available! And, actually, they are quite cool (I think) and definitely comfy. So maybe rather than me getting older, slippers are getting younger? Or maybe not! Let me know what you think!

To be clear. I am not suggesting 'mooning' or displaying your Y Fronts. But I am saying that at home dads can be known to become a little lazy when it comes to their dress, prefering comfort and washability to anything else. Some people believe you are what you wear. It's certainly true that how you dress sends uninetentional messages to others. Dress signals economic prosperity, confidence, self respect, wellbeing and our interests and activities. But don't just take my word for it, Clinical psychologist Dr. Jennifer Baumgartner litterally wrote the book on the subject in You Are What You Wear: What Your Clothes Reveal About You. If you don't care what others think of you or the image you project then you should think about the impact it can have on your other half and your relationship. I remember reading an article about a couple in their forties. The husband had become an at home dad whilst his wife continued to work. I remember the wife describing how she lost respect for her husband due to seeing him everyday dressed in baggy sweatpants and tee shirts splattered with 2 day old lasagne. Whilst we might consider this a good practical choice, she apparently longed for the good old days when her husband would be neatly dressed for work and smelling of expensive after shave. And she told how she stopped 'fancying' him. Becoming an at home dad can have all kinds of impacts on men used to the social and economic environment of work. We can feel isolated and 'different' at the school gates and lonely through lack of adult conversation and we can lose our identity without the label of a job title. Many at home dads can suffer from depression as a result. I have myself. But if it's true that we are what we wear, and who am I to argue with a clinical psychologist, then what we choose to wear doing the school run, pushing the stroller in the park, taking the kids to their clubs and playgroups and even when we're doing the housework can have an impact on our psychology and well being. So make it a positive impact. Drop the sweatpants and wear something that makes you feel good and look good, whatever you're doing today,