A mother-of-three has been labelled ‘judgemental’ and a ‘mean girl’ after she shared a list of what to wear to the school gate when picking up the kids.
Lauren Dubois, from Canberra, said she used to be ‘stressed’ when she couldn’t decide what outfit to wear from her wardrobe for the school drop-off and pick-up.
‘When I became a school mum, I genuinely put time and effort into researching what I should wear to school drop off and pickup. Don’t laugh. It stressed me,’ the political-journalist-turned-parenting-blogger wrote in a now-deleted Instagram Story.
‘If you’re a stay-at-home or work from home mum, then you don’t wear “work clothes” so you have to wear your regular clothes.’
In a series of ‘sponsored ad’ posts, the mum promoted a fashion brand by sharing examples of her favourite outfits she was planning on wearing for her school run, along with a discount code and a direct link to the online store.
Lauren Dubois (pictured), from Canberra, has been labelled ‘judgemental’ and a ‘high school mean girl’ after she shared a list of what to wear to the school gate when picking up the kids
In a series of ‘sponsored ad’ posts, the mum promoted a fashion brand by sharing examples of the outfits she was planning on wearing on her school run, along with a discount code and a direct link to the online store
Lauren – who has nearly 55,000 Instagram followers – shared a detailed list of what type of outfits mothers should consider wearing – including ‘casual but presentable’ and ‘comfortable enough to spend all day in’.
She said the outfit should appear like ‘you’ve put in a small amount of effort so other parents will allow their children to befriend yours’ so ‘they don’t worry about play dates at your house being inside a dumpster’.
‘But not a total lie – so for me, that meant minimal activewear because I don’t go to the gym. I just can’t pretend that I do,’ she added, along with a laughing emoji.
In her light-hearted post, the parenting author explained that she has a ‘massive soft spot for mums turning up to drop off’ their kids at school while in their pyjamas.
‘Whether it’s been a s*** morning or they just really couldn’t give a flying f***, I see them and I stan them,’ she said.
‘But if you’re keen to make a good first impression (you can always let them down easy next term) then I have some suggestions for you.’
After sharing a detailed list of what type of outfits mothers should consider wearing, Lauren uploaded pictures of herself wearing the different clothing she’s planning on wearing on her school run, along with a discount code and link to the sale item
However, not everyone seemed to agree with her ‘judgemental’ statement, with one mother calling her out on Instagram, saying: ‘Who gives a f*** what you wear to school drop off?
‘If anyone is judging you, they’re probably the a**holes that talk about “women empowering women” but in online comments body shaming others for not being a size 6,’ she added.
One school teacher weighed in, explaining why she ‘hated’ the fashion post.
‘Such a tragic way of showing off a sponsored brand by using emotional first-time school mums to make a few sales,’ she wrote.
However, not everyone seemed to agree with her fashion statement, with one mother (left) calling her out on Instagram, saying: ‘Who gives a f*** what you wear to school drop off?’ While one school teacher weighed in (right), explaining why she ‘hated’ the fashion post
‘As a teacher, I can categorically say no one notices what mums wear… The fact parents have turned up for their kids is the win here, not what they are wearing.
‘She has no idea how terribly her post could impact on someone without the income to be encouraged to wear this brand rather than op shop, hand me downs, handmade or Kmart clothes a lot of our parents wear in order to put a uniform on their kids’ backs.’
Despite the backlash, many quickly jumped to Lauren’s defence.
‘Coming on someone’s Instagram page and telling them you don’t like their content and expect them to change it for you… is like knocking on someone’s door and asking them to change their furniture because it’s not to your taste,’ one wrote.
‘You don’t live there. Keep moving.’
Lauren hit back at the ‘tiny few who whinge, nag and insult’ her in a follow up post, saying: ‘I’ll never be what you want. I can’t be. I don’t want to be.
‘I’m not here for you. I’m here for MY people. I have no obligation to be who you want me to be. You are not my people. Go and find yours. They’re somewhere else.’