‘I cringe seeing adults dressed up’

Lucy Baker, 46, is a confidence coach at shecoachesconfidence. com and lives in Lincoln with her husband and three children.

As soon as I see an invitation with instructions to dress as cowboys or in all-white,

I feel utter dread. And I’m not just talking about the kids’ party invites, I can’t still believe I’m in my 40s and being asked to put on fancy dress for a birthday bash.

I can’t imagine anything worse than having to traipse to the shops looking for costumes to fit whatever ‘quirky’ theme the host has come up with. I loathe wearing fancy dress. In the past, as an adult, I was invited to a Hawaiian-themed party but and everyone dressed up lei I refused, only wearing a it for an hour before taking to off. I certainly don’t want dress the same as everyone else when I’m at a party. Of course, I’ll scramble to the put together a costume for kids when they’ve got World Book Day or Halloween but they’re 12, nine and three! Even matching Christmas PJS feels too much like donning a costume to me. This Halloween, I’ll be wearing my normal clothes, thanks. Who wants to squirt fake blood over themselves anyway? And while I try not to judge other people for their choices, I do cringe seeing grown adults going all out in fancy dress. They just look ridiculous!