What My Daughter Wore.... From My Closet.

Just a few weekends ago, my 15-year-old daughter goes in my walk-in closet and emerges a few minutes later with one of my clothes.  She holds up my chambray button-down and asks, " Can I borrow this today?" She borrows it often enough that I haven't had the chance to wear it anymore.

My daughter loves clothes, and I've written about her love for it and some of her (misplaced) body image issues here.  She gets to indulge her sartorial choices on weekends; and this is when she shifts through her closet, and occasionally mine, as she chooses what to wear.

She went clothes-shopping for this dress without me, but I am so thrilled that she asked for my opinion via text before actually deciding on purchasing this one. 

Whenever I see her rummaging through my clothes... can I just tell you how it makes my day? The very thought alone that my 15 year old thinks that MY clothes are "cool" enough for her to wear!

For a long time there, I was the un-cool, un-hip mom who is always on her case about managing her time between homework and swim training, about eating up all her lunch baon including the vegetables, about standing tall and straight, about practicing self-discipline when it comes to online chatting or texting with friends. That kind of mom. 

Then suddenly, she started discovering that my clothes can look good on her.  Then, my clothes started disappearing from my closet; and at times, they never came back.  Keep in mind that I am in my 40s and my clothes are what you would consider preppy or classics (read: boring), definitely not clothes that teenagers would normally wear.  Not to mention that my daughter is practically a head taller than me. Yet, my closet is where she's at when the event she is going to matters to her.

One of her recent finds from my closet is this vintage Levi's 501 button-fly denim. I remember wearing this when I was about 18 or 20 years old, when I was in university.

I kept it for so long because this was one of my favorite pair of jeans at that time, bought at Melrose Avenue in LA during my trip to the US with just my sisters, without our parents. We were obviously feeling very grown-up. Haha! There's a lot of history and emotions in this particular pair.

I had this top when I was newly married. I think I even have a photo of me wearing this while I was carrying her. We both love that the print is still so on point fifteen years later, and it doesn't look like it came from a mommy's closet. teehee!

This white knitted top was mine when I was in my twenties. More than 20 years ago na! 

(gasp!) She's so elated that she could source "vintage clothes" right here at home.

Her constant presence in my closet reminds me not just that we have the same sense of style; but more importantly, she thinks of me more than just her tsuper-mama who brings her to swim training, and school logistics/production or school committee meetings. Or the one she texts when she forgets to put a swimsuit or slippers in her training bag. Or the one who acts as "the dealmaker" when she wants to ask her dad for permission to go out.

This is how our text messages usually looks like; mostly it's her asking me to pick her up or bring her food. But sometimes I have to give her gentle reminders, too.

Having my teenaged daughter in my room, borrowing my clothes, is a precious gift in itself for it gives me the best seat to listen in on her ramblings about her life and the people in it. I love that she's so open and comfortable with me and she shares almost everything with me. Because we have a close relationship, she's open to my corrections and she usually follows them. But I noticed that she doesn't really like it when I express an opinion about her friends. I'm still working on being a good  + non-judgmental listener, but I'm working very hard to get there.

As she gives me her attention, I also take that time to constantly remind her that while taking care of the outward appearance is important, what is more essential is nourishing and nurturing the character of the heart... stressing on the importance of working on having the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, 

such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 

Rather, it should be that of your inner self, 

the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

1 Peter 3:3-4

*     *     *

When she wears this top, she always tucks it in, maybe because I always wear it untucked. So I'm thinking she won't wear it the same way I'm wearing it because ... meh!

This dress is on of my favorites. I bought this in Singapore, and whenever I'm having a hard time thinking what to wear, this is the default item I pull out. My daughter likes to borrow this, but she always puts a denim jacket around her waist when she wears it.

The dress is hers, but that clutch I got as a gift a very long time ago, and it's hers now

There's something that tugs at my heart strings when she pulls out a top or a bag that I had forgotten I owned, or when she borrows one of my favorite dresses that I wear on heavy rotation, and calls dibs on it as soon as it returns from the wash.

She went through my closet and "scored" this backpack.  This Prada bag is the first designer bag that I bought with my own money after I started working as a banker... about 2 decades ago. hahaha! I forgot that I even have this bag. Her cap is another one of her "vintage finds" from her dad's closet naman this time. 

When shopping with her, I often tease her to just let me do all the shopping, I tell her "after all, you're always raiding my closet." And if I pick out something that she happens to like as well, her first reaction is “I'll borrow that, ha!”

#DressingRoomDiaries from when she was still 12 years old

Sadly, my influence doesn't reach to styling her hair... yet!  If you follow me in IG, you'd have seen this post where I lament our non-existent arsenal of hair styling products. It's a good thing I remembered that Cream Silk sent over a package of their newest product for us to try.

My daughter is going out with her best friends tonight; friends she's had since third grade. She went to my room and wanted help with her naturally straight hair to have a bit more body. I said no problem, I'll help her. Then I realized, we don't have a hair dryer in the house, nor any hair products. Ooops! #WhatMyDaughterWore

A photo posted by The Phenomenal Mama (@thephenomenalmama) on Oct 10, 2015 at 3:38am PDT

Cream Silk Standout Straight Leave-On Cream has a non-greasy and light formula which smoothes the frizzies and nourishes the hair to keep it looking gorgeously straighter. Thank you, Cream Silk,  for coming to our rescue. My daughter just simply placed a tiny drop on her palm, rubbed it, and gently placed it on her hair to keep the frizz away - and she's all set for the night! Natural Beaty! Naks! Hahaha!

Thank you Unilever for sending over this beauty emergency kit! It's a lifesaver!

Cream Silk managed to keep the frizz away for the entire night, and it comes in a travel-sized bottle which can fit into a tiny pouch so you can touch-up anytime.

Borrowing my hoop earrings for a recent party she attended with her friends.

She's been bugging me for double ear piercings since she was 12. At that time, I promised her when she turned 15 I'll let her, thinking that she would eventually forget about it. But she remembered, and so this year I was forced to keep my word... I went with her to have it done. 

To end this post... Achi, you always ask me during this time of the year what you can get me for my birthday. For this year, I don't want any gifts... I just want my clothes back - in my closet, where they belong. Ok! Teehee! 

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