Meeting your partner's parents for the first time can be a daunting prospect. But wearing the right clothes for the occasion will help you feel a little more confident about taking this step and about making a good first impression. Here are a few tips to make sure that you are accepted into the family and do not make a blunder that will set you off on the wrong foot with the people who could be your in-laws one day:
Tips On What To Wear
What sort of outfit you should wear specifically will depend, of course, on the context. If you are meeting at their home for Sunday lunch then a smart casual outfit should usually be worn, while jeans and a T-shirt might be more the thing for a picnic in the park. Take your cue from your partner, though. What are the family all likely to be wearing? It is the best policy to follow suit (unless your partner is notoriously clueless about these things) and wear something with roughly the same level of formality as what your partner has suggested.
Before meeting your potential in-laws you will already know your partner, of course and will likely have heard a lot about his parents. You should have a reasonably good idea from this about what you should expect. Take that body of knowledge into account when dressing for the day and this about what they might like you to wear for the occasion, while still being yourself.
Tips On What Not To Wear
Modesty is definitely the order of the day. No matter whether you are meeting a vicar and his wife, some ageing hippies or some punk rebels, or something in between, no parent is going to want to think of anything too overtly sexual or sensual or see too much flesh on display when meeting their child's partner. No one is saying that you should dress like a nun but use some common sense. Keep skirts hovering just about the knee and not too much higher, and keep the neckline PG. Do not give them an excuse to think ill of you before they get to know you at all.
At the same time, of course, do not wear something that really isn't you. Be yourself. Your partner's parents will either immediately warm to you or they won't. Do not play dress up or put on an act and hope that they can accept you for who you really are – the person their child fell in love with!
