Meeting the parents

There are certain experiences in one's life that just don't EVER get any easier. Like meeting your boyfriend's parents for the first time.

One Woman's Day staffer has thrown herself into a right tizz with what to wear for this impending occasion.

"It's got to be the perfect 'meet the parents' frock," she mused. "Flattering, not too revealing, but not too frumpy."

And we agreed that as we are both — how shall I put it — not lacking in the bust department, it's all the more challenging to strike the demure-yet-dazzling balance. One or two centimetres too much cleavage and you might be forever seen as a two-bit hussy by your beloved's mother. (Although his dad might think you're fabulous!)

I discovered this at the tender age of 16, when I unexpectedly met my boyfriend's mum after having been at the beach. Her first image of me was running across the road in my bikini and, well, she just never really warmed to me.

On the other hand, my fellow buxom staffer has, in the past, gone the opposite way in her attempts to impress.

"My then boyfriend's mother was an incredibly chic woman, so I felt I had to wear a nice pair of black pants and a long-sleeved, roll-neck top to appear suitable," she recalls. "I was also trying desperately to look older, so I wore lots of black eyeliner... on my lips. I used it as lip liner with my very dark lipstick."

Somehow — miraculously — her boyfriend's mother saw through this odd ensemble; they keep in touch to this day, even though the bloke is long gone. But it might be a good idea to leave the eyeliner for the eyes where it belongs... and do up one extra button.