Do you dress differently in front of your parents?

Ivy BlueLet me start out by saying my parents are very liberal, ex-hippies who still are some of the most casual, laid back people ever. I feel comfortable talking to them about just about anything. But when it comes to wearing short-shorts or a low-cut top when I visit them in Connecticut, I have to be sure to leave those at home

I suppose it's a different thing now. When I was a teenager I wasn't wearing the Britney Spears belly-baring tops of a younger generation--I wore over-sized band tees and flannel shirts. Showing off skin was the last thing on my mind. Yes, I did get called in to the principals office once for wearing a skirt she dubbed "way too short" and "inappropriate," but my mother defending my choice. Hell, she even bought the mini for me!

Now that I'm, um, I guess an adult, my parents think I should be dressing my age. But in a time when 10-year-olds and 30-year-olds look practically identical, I'm not quite sure what that means. I do know that if I ever wear tiny cutoffs, a tight miniskirt or a cleavage-revealing tank top, my mom will comment on it. She'll also ask me why I'm wearing a black bra under a white shirt--hello, Carrie Bradshaw ALWAYS did this, so why couldn't I? Even the neon-bright colors I wear or "weird" footwear are detected by their radar. Finally I've just come to realize, when going home to my small town to visit my folks, I'm better off leaving anything even remotely controversial back in New York City. How totally boring!

And don't even get me started on dressing to meet my boyfriend's parents. Though yes, I do own sweet babydoll dresses and floral cardigans, and dainty flats, I would never typically pair them together. It's too soft for me. But this becomes my wardworbe when going to visit the parents of my boyfriend of nearly two years. It's not that I can't be me, it's not that they don't adore me--I just don't want even the slightest hint of "I can't believe she wore that" when my mom-approved outfits have won me points in the past. Am I destined to live a double-wardrobe life? Will I ever outgrow this?

Do you change up your look around parents?