All very well getting the kids kitted up in their smart togs, but what about a new school uniform for Mums too? What IS the point of getting up early and dropping off Izzy at the school gates, (that’s what one pays the au pair for)Â if you don’t have the right gear to impress? But this week Plummy does a mercy dash to Knightsbridge and Bond Street, because there seems to be some serious challenges in the elegance stakes from a couple of new parents this year. How to stay ‘Queen Bee’ and ‘Yummiest Mummy’ in the whole school is top of the agenda for Izzy’s mum.
I’m afraid I get a big ‘FAIL’ most days myself when it comes to being well turned out in the playground. I actually have two hairbrushes and three combs most of which are large, brightly coloured and hairy, but they always go AWOL with all the school socks sometime between leaping out of bed and flying out the front door 40 minutes later. The black elasticated sports bra stretched around my shoulders and neck impresses noone but myself as it hardly has to work at all, apart from an 60 metre sprint to the bus stop. (I’ll start my marathon training next week). I’ve just read in the Sundays that the skinny jeans I bought last term are no longer ‘in’ and my trainers add nothing to this definitely INelegant ensemble. How on earth does Victoria Beckham manage to look as though she’s got up before dawn on schooldays? Maybe she just does. No setting the alarm for Harper Seven. Or even Quarter Past.
A generation ago when my two were at school the competition at the school gate was far more to do with perceived intellectual credibility than outward appearances. It could be annoying to be mistaken for an au pair if you didn’t arrive with something from the Man Booker shortlist or a high powered magazine peeping out of your bag or under your arm, but at least this leaning towards the importance of the little grey cells related to why we were all gathered outside a school each morning!
So it’s not about the Louboutins then 😉 (BTW many of the au pairs I know are post-grads – future CEOs and politicians paying off Uni fees!).
Could be worse… thankfully no supermodels and paparazzi or maybe I’m missing something…
The supermodels are allowed to drop off at a concealed entrance to avoid paparazzi. That’s why you can’t see them.
Ah Jo, I’m so with you in terms of my appearance at school drop off! (Except I don’t even have a sports bra on to make me feel a bit better about myself. Maybe I’ll give that a go next week…)
Give yourself an extra half an hour in the morning then. Sports bras take that long to struggle into.