Dear Shopping Savage...

Dear Shopping Savage,

My daughter started high school a few months ago and now wants to wear heels to school. Should I let her?

Signed,

Mom hot on her daughter's heels

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Dear M.H.O.H.D.H.,

A better question is how you've managed to keep her out of heels this long! Whatever your answer, more moms should follow your lead and pose this question before letting their daughters wear shoes too adult too soon. However, since most teenagers equate their happiness with their self-image around your daughter's age, wearing heels is not an outrageous request. Assuming she has had some experience with heels or wedges over the years, she's at an age where she's mature enough to take the training shoes off.

Of course as the mom of a teenage girl you should still oversee what she wears and how its worn; as heels go you definitely want to be there to help her pick pairs that she can wear to school without major discomfort. A stacked heel with a small platform, for example, would provide more traction and comfort than a 4" spiked stiletto boot.

There are many sites that offer advice on how to walk in heels and the podiatry risks that you take by wearing them, but ultimately, these are lessons a young woman should learn from her mother. With the proper tutelage (and gel inserts) your daughter should be able to walk through adolescence in any shoe she wants. In fact, giving her permission to wear heels to school may help her see that yes, they may look glamorous to walk in, but it'll take some time before she will be comfortable walking a mile in those shoes. Hell hath no fury like a stiletto heel. Best she learn this lesson early in life.

If she's going out with friends you may want to suggest a pair of these when her heels start to become a hindrance.

Need sartorial advice? Email me: ShoppingSavage@gmail.com

Dear Shopping Savage...

Dear Shopping Savage,

My 13-year-old daughter has been pestering me to let her wear makeup to school. In the past I have let her wear a little eyeshadow and lip gloss if it were a special occasion, but never full-on makeup like she's talking. What should I do? I know this isn't exactly "sartorial" but I'm definitely interested in whatever advice you can give me!

Signed,

Makeup Meltdown Mommy

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Dear M.M.M.,

Your question may not be sartorial, but it most certainly warrants a response. Over the years there has been a drastic change in the way young adults dress and act. So many seem so eager to grow up that they miss out on having a childhood.

When I was growing up, kids knew what it meant to be a kid. Countless hours were spent reading for fun, homework was done with paper and pencil, and after a nice hot bath, you went to bed exhausted from playing outside with friends. Play dates meant more than getting together to watch a DVD, video games were not considered exercise, and for long trips the car was filled with home-prepared food, books and family games not fast food wrappers, wi-fi and headphones.

The generation divide has never been so wide, but just because you can't fight nature, doesn't mean you have to nurture her request. Tell her if she wants to wear makeup she needs to earn the privilege. Use improvement in grades or helping out more around the house as the trade-off. And I wouldn't allow her to wear more than two products at a time.

Sooner than later though M.M.M., you're going to have to accept the fact that your "little girl" isn't going to be "little" much longer. Teenagers grow up a lot faster these days, so just take the time to talk to her and be as active as you can be in her life. See to it that she continues on the road to becoming a mature young woman who knows that she can open up to her mom, even if it is via text. You really know you've earned her trust when she accepts your friend request on Facebook.

Need sartorial advice? Email me: ShoppingSavage@gmail.com