Looking at some old photographs of children a few days ago, I asked the students I was working with whether they thought the infants pictured were boys or girls.

It was, however, impossible to tell. With their long white dresses and sweet faces, there was nothing to distinguish male from female.

Today’s fashions for tiny tots make it much easier to distinguish the sexes, but there are no longer any ‘rules’ when it comes to the way adults dress.

Back in the 1970s when I was a child, women in their 40s favoured dresses, usually worn with a floral apron when tackling household chores. Middle-aged men were fond of casual slacks, but wore suits for all formal occasions, including shirt and tie, and highly polished shoes. 

The younger generation followed the fashion of their music heroes – Bay City Rollers, or later Punk and New Romantics. The aim then was to look different – different to each other, and definitely different to mum and dad.

Today, similarity is the key. All females from the age of 13 upwards seem to have the same hairstyle, and old and young alike dress in the same style.

Personally, I tend to avoid dressing like my daughters, mainly because they look so much better in anything than I do. But also because I want to retain a little bit of individuality, and I really do think purple Doc Martens still look great!