I read an article in a newspaper the other day about a certain person with an income of well over £100,000 approximately £50,000,000 a week  whose wife and 2 children, girls, under 10 stepped out carrying handbags collectively worth £5,800, approximately -N-2,900,000.

It brought to mind a series of discussions I’d had with my then 16 going on 36 year old daughter  over the Half-Term, concerning whether she should be allowed to ‘borrow’ mummy’s things all the time, some of the time, only on special occasions, or just plain never.

Able to dress themselves with a lot, but also able to put themselves together with a little.

In her favorite words, when she asks, if I say no, “But why Mummy? It’s not fair”.

Now I’m definitely not (yet) in the £100,000 a week category, but Im not chopped liver either. By the grace of God I do have quite a few nice pieces, a quilted Chanel, python-skin Louboutin  and Celine here, and some rocks and rock studded high-end watches there.

The question is, and I’m asking all of us; when is it ok for our girls to wear our stuff. Is there some kind of written or unwritten code or index that determines when they can or can’t, at what age they should, or should never start doing so, 13, 16, 21? More to the point is there a price range, “Oh yes Montana you can definitely wear the high heels with the chipped heel that I got at a bargain price from **** but definitely not the £1,700 pointy python-skin Loubies from **** “Yes, to the oversized tote I bought for £15.00 in the sale last Summer, but no, to the Celine tote that looks just the same, was £3,500, and yes, I know I don’t tote it around any more because I’ve bought two more since then, and its now sitting at the back of my wardrobe”.

To take it a bit further, what if Mummy dearest only has the high-end things, does that ban baby girl from ever ‘borrowing’ Mummy’s things, does it mean that Mummy just has to keep buying her the things that fit within her price range, (whatever that is? we haven’t identified it yet). till she gets to the ‘right’ age (we haven’t identified that yet either). What exactly is the rule here?

I really can’t say I know, but if I were to attempt to answer, I would say that as mothers, grandmothers and mothers-to-be,  let us do everything within our power to bring up young women who are beautiful inside and out.

Stylish, elegant and appropriately dressed for every occasion, but kind, compassionate, loving, giving, and patient on the inside.

Able to dress themselves with a lot, but also able to put themselves together with a little. Women who derive their self-worth not just from the value of what they own, or what they have on, but from loftier and more lasting ideals. Women who judge themselves not from the price of a shoe, a bag, a watch or a bauble, that changes from season to season, but from things that last, integrity, loyalty, strength of character and steadfastness.