Confessional

What the boutique owner thinks about you

SCHOOL proms are a huge part of our business. It seems ridiculous that a 16-year-old will expect to own a dress worth hundreds — even thousands — of pounds so she can impress her friends for one night.

I’ve had mothers losing their temper because their daughter wants something with crystals and a thigh split, and she wants her to look like Grace Kelly.

Sometimes a girl will choose a dress, then put on weight with the stress of exams. One well-to-do mother told her mortified daughter: ‘This dress costs £600 and you’ve put on a stone!’

Parents are quite hard work, generally. In fact, the more money they have to spend, the more trouble they are. Those who really bother me are the rare ones who actually want their daughter to look overtly sexy.

Some 16-year-olds are very insecure about their bodies and they don’t want their mum trussing them up in what looks like a reject from Beyonce’s tour wardrobe ‘because you’re so lovely and slim’.

Customers often show me photos after the prom and I always say how lovely everyone looks — but it amazes me that these well brought-up, middle-class girls often end up resembling escapees from My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.

Deep down, I’m with the ‘Grace Kelly’ mothers — but the girls generally want to look like they’re in a rap video. It makes me feel quite sad.