DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was picking up food at a restaurant when a young lady approached the counter to retrieve her order. She was wearing a lovely white dress. Unfortunately, her bright, colorful, patterned undies were quite visible through the dress’s fabric.
I was unsure how, or if, I should approach her to suggest pairing a slip or skin-tone undies with that particular dress.
Does Miss Manners have any suggestions?
GENTLE READER: Since it is unlikely that you had an extra slip or skin-tone undies on your person, alerting this young lady to the perceived fashion faux pas might not have been welcomed. For all you know, this was a deliberate fashion decision on her part.
Miss Manners is all for telling strangers — kindly and privately — about wardrobe malfunctions, but in this case, nothing could have been immediately done. It would only have caused embarrassment — not just for the young lady, but for you, who would have been caught staring at her bottom.
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, [email protected]; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)