“Penny for your thoughts?” his mother asked.

“Oh nothing.” he replied. “I’m just enjoying the stroll.” he said.

“Despite the fact your mother made you wear a dress?” his mother replied.

“It’s not so bad.” he replied. “It feels quite nice actually… now I’ve got used to wearing it.” he confessed.

“I’m glad to hear it.” his mother smiled. “Part of me misses wearing dresses and heels.” she said. “I used to feel so elegant.”

“Why don’t you still wear them?” Mark asked.

“Because the world changed.” she replied. “Women who dress up are looked down on these days.” she said.

“That’s not fair… especially if you liked getting dressed up.”

“Well it’s just the way things are.” she said. “Women aren’t taken very seriously in the workplace if they spend too much time preening themselves.” she explained. “Whereas boys…” she added.

“Yeah I know.” Mark replied, somewhat glumly. “It all just feels so new… and a little bit scary.”

“I understand.” his mother said. “In a lot of ways it’s my fault… if I’d bought you a dress when they they first appeared…”

“You did try to.” Mark interjected. “It was me who was too frightened to wear one… I wouldn’t even try one on.” he said, emitting a nervous chuckle and recalling the horror every time his mother drew his attention to a boy’s dress in a shop window.

“You were just being a typical boy.” his mother said. “You did wear a skirt for George & Betty’s wedding.” she reminded him.

“Even that petrified me.” Mark recalled. “I wonder if women were scared of wearing trousers in the olden days.” Mark mused. “…when all they wore was skirts and petticoats.”

“I don’t know.” his mother replied. “We’ll have to have a look to see if we can find those pictures of boys wearing dresses that Lydia mentioned.”

“Hmm.” Mark responded. “If boys did wear dresses years and years ago… I wonder why they stopped?”

“It just fell out of fashion I guess.” his mother replied.