Dear Manolo,
I’m going to have Thanksgiving dinner with my boyfriend at his ancestral home. In attendance will be his elderly mother and his teenaged daughters, whom I will be meeting for the first time. What would you recommend?
Olivia
Manolo says, congratulations to the Manolo’s friend who has just passed the Going-Home-to-Meet-the-Family test! This man likes you!
And now it is time for the more difficult challenge, winning the approval from the family. Your boyfriend’s mother will be relatively easy to please. Dress modestly and praise her turkey, her son, and her house, not necessarily in that order.
As for meeting the daughters, such new relationships are always fraught with emotions, this is to say nothing of the natural contempt teenagers feel for anyone over the age of twenty-five.
However, the most important advice not to attempt to dress younger than your age. Nothing is more mockable than the middle-aged “hottie” wearing the mini-dress and belly-shirt, talking about how much she loves Zac Efron.
Much better is the expensive but stylish skirt, blouse, and jacket worn with super fantastic knee-high boots, boots that even the most jaded teenager cannot but admire, like these beautiful Oriana boots from Cole Haan.