We all like to have our own sense of style and identity through the clothes we wear.
But we buy clothes at popular supermarket chains, there's a chance we will be wearing the same clothes as someone else, pointed out the "Am I the A**hole?" (AITA) subReddit.
Redditor MissAntrophyy really liked a dress that her sister-in-law had and ended up getting one of her own.
But when her sister-in-law accused her of copying her style, the Original Poster (OP) wondered if she was wrong to buy the dress she liked.
She asked the sub:
"AITA for buying the same dress as my SIL (Sister-in-Law) and copying her style?"
The OP really liked a dress that her sister-in-law (SIL) had.
"A few weeks ago, my brother's wife/my SIL posted a TikTok, and I thought the dress she wore in the video was super cute, but then I kind of forgot about it."
"But then, over this past weekend, I happened to see the dress in Old Navy and recognized it immediately."
"I decided to try it on and it was the most flattering thing I've tried on in a long time."
"I have a lot of body image issues, but I felt beautiful in this dress! So I bought it."
She wanted to coordinate with her SIL for a wedding.
"We have a family wedding coming up next month and I texted SIL yesterday to ask her what she was planning on wearing."
"She sent me a pic of a jumpsuit she's planning on wearing, and I responded, 'Oh, good, if you're not going to wear this dress, then I'm going to because I love it!' and sent a pic of the Old Navy dress."
"She didn't respond for a few hours but then finally replied, 'Sigh. K.'"
"I responded with a question mark, and she replied, 'I'm just getting really sick of everyone I know copying my style.'"
The OP found herself feeling frustrated.
"I just rolled my eyes and ignored it. But after thinking about it, I'm p**sed off."
"SIL has always considered herself a fashionista, and to be fair, she always looks really nice and put together."
"But her style isn't particularly distinctive or unique. She wears the same types of clothes that I see on everyone our age (late 20s)."
"She gets most of her clothes at places like Old Navy, Target, Abercrombie, and H&M, chain stores that are everywhere."
"Yes, I was inspired by seeing her in the dress, but I don't see how I'm copying her style when I bought a dress at one of the biggest affordable clothing chains in the country."
"Additionally, I wouldn't wear it to the wedding if she'd been planning on wearing it."
"But I'm curious what Reddit thinks."
"AITA for copying her style?"
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You're the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some thought the OP handled this situation perfectly.
"OP didn't go out of her way to track it down even, she just saw it while out shopping."
"AND she asked SIL what she was wearing first, she didn't send a pic of the dress and say, 'I'm going to wear this to the wedding, I hope you aren't wearing yours!'"
"OP did literally everything right in this situation, there is not a single detail that would possibly make her a tiny AH." - OrindaSarnia
"Your SIL sounds petty as f**k. You even checked what she was going to wear to make sure you weren't matching or anything."
"Wear your dress, look darn good doing it, and enjoy the event. NTA." - PenniesAndSense
"For real, she's not setting up entire outfits from random junk she finds. She bought an off-the-shelf Old Navy dress."
"That's like complaining people are copying your cooking when all you make is packaged ramen and boxed hamburger helper." - neohampster
"If OP had bought the dress, shoes, and accessories, it would be a different story, but one mass-produced dress is not a stolen style."
"NTA." - fidelises
"If the sister posts on TikTok, too, then a lot more than just her friends will be inspired by a cute top, a dress, pants.. etc. That's... kinda how fashion works, and since she calls herself a fashionista, she should know that."
"It's not exactly news that we get inspired by others, magazines, and celebs. And when it's mass-produced, what's she gonna do? Ban the store selling more after she bought one of something?"
"Besides that, I could see it as copying if OP went out of their way finding the exact same accessories, shoes, etc., for every single outfit the woman wears. But just buying a mass-produced dress? No."
"OP's look will be different based on how she makes it fit her style with pieces of jewelry, shoes, etc. You can't monopolize a piece of clothing. NTA." - Dangerous-WinterElf
"Plot twist: At the wedding, everybody will wear the same dress, except for SIL."
"NTA. Liking the same dress as someone else is not the same as 'copying their style.' Especially after you respectfully asked her what she would wear." - recoveringfromreddit
"NTA. It's one piece of clothing. Heck, when my SIL and I go out and we find something cute that we both like, we both buy it and wear it."
"It's not like you went and found every item she's ever had and bought all the accessories to look identical."
"SMH (shaking my head), people need to get over themselves." - Rinzlerin
Others pointed out that the dress was from Old Navy, not a boutique.
"Copying her style, which she bought at Old Navy?"
"Good God, what next, eating French fries from McDonald's, just like her? DRINKING WATER, LIKE SHE DOES EVERY DAY?"
"The Devil Wears Old Navy. NTA. SIL needs to get over herself." - Jonny-Pasadena
"Your SIL needs to have all of her clothes custom made instead of shopping at mass retailers if she thinks everyone is copying 'her style.'"
"Wear the dress and go out and find yourself some awesome accessories."
"In fact, go to the Old Navy website and see if the dress is available in a different fabric, often they are, and get yourself another one if you truly love it." - WisdomOfPearl
"LOL (laughing out loud). Girl, it's Old Navy, it's not that serious."
"NTA." - BroadElderberry
"So many people are wearing the same things from Old Navy. It's not like it's from a tiny boutique or handmade." - JLAOM
"It's a nice dress but also so generic. I could understand if it was a really distinctive print or something but it's a dress style a lot of people wear." - EntrepreneurMany3709
"NTA... It's a mass-produced dress from Old Navy, not a bridal gown on her wedding day." - RoyallyOakie
"Man, I was hanging out with a friend and his girlfriend last week and she said she really liked my style and wanted to know where I got my clothes."
"What I did next will shock SIL!"
"I sent the links to everything I bought in the last two months! She asked if she could wear some of the same patterns and I immediately said h**l yeah, go for it!"
"SIL would faint at my audacity." - almostinfinity
"NTA. If you're wearing mass-produced clothing and are surprised to see others in the same clothes, you're not the sharpest crayon in the box. You're not copying her style."
"It's not even her style, it's f**king Old Navy's style." - DerpDevilDD
"This is like her rolling her eyes if you order a Coca-Cola at lunch."
"'Sigh, I'm just getting really sick of everyone I know copying my beverage style…'" - CanadianJediCouncil
"NTA."
"I am sorry, but buying something from Old Navy shouldn't be considered copying someone's style. Old Navy is just too mainstream for that."
"And copying out item outfit should be taken as a compliment. When you start copying everything, that's an issue." - GreekAmericanDom
"NTA."
"Based on what you wrote, this is the first time this has happened and your intent wasn't to 'copy' her but to get a dress that you liked (that she had) which also happened to flatter you."
"If she's going to buy from such huge chain stores, she should expect that other people will have the same stuff as her."
"I would however recommend that you make a concerted effort to not make a habit of doing this. Try to find stuff you've never seen her in, and wear that. Check out many different places."
"You don't want her to start describing you as the SIL who always copies her. If there are not many instances of it, then that narrative will be hard to perpetuate."
"Is there any way for you to personalize it a bit more? A shawl or light jacket you could put over the top of it to individualize it a little more from what she had posted?" - jammy913
Though the subReddit could understand not wanting everyone else to wear the same clothes, they pointed out the sister-in-law could expect it to happen from time to time after shopping at a popular retailer.
As long as the OP didn't frequently have the same clothes, having a dress in common in their closets was hardly a call for accusing someone of copying their fashion choices.
Woman Asks If It's Wrong To Hold Grudge After Mom Told Her When She 8 Years Old That She Wished She'd Aborted Her
While some people view having and raising children as the greatest blessing, some parents hold their children's existence against them for their entire lives.
And when they feel that way about their children, they're unfortunately typically pretty honest about it, cringed the members of the "Am I Overreacting?" (AIO) subReddit.
Redditor heavelymango knew from the time she was young that her mother did not really like her and significantly favored her sister.
But when her mother told her at the age of eight that she wished she had aborted her, the Original Poster (OP) held on to that grudge for years after the fact.
She asked the sub:
The OP had a grudge against her mother.
"I (22 Female) have been holding onto a grudge due to something my mom told me when I was roughly eight or nine years old."
"Growing up, I was a rebellious kid and always felt as if my mom favored my older sister. My sister would always get whatever she wanted."
"I know she was born with Down syndrome and always needed more attention and care, but if my sister wanted my tablet, for example, she would have it for the whole day while mine was limited to 30 minutes so she could have it."
"As a kid, I lashed out more because of this. She could take all of my things, but I could never use hers."
During a heated moment, the OP's mother said something unforgivable.
"Eventually, this led to an argument with my mom. I don't recall the whole thing, but it was related to my sister and how I felt my mom didn't care about me or give me the same amount of attention."
"The fight got heated, and I probably told my mom that I hated my sister and her."
"I remember she said back, 'I never wanted you from the start. I knew I should've aborted you when I had the chance.'"
" I didn't know what aborted meant at the time, and I remember I looked it up, and it made me cry. I never forgot it, and it lingers in my mind whenever I am home."
The OP's mother pressured her to "let it go" and move on.
"Even growing up, I still brought it up, and she would get mad, saying I need to let it go and how I'm stubborn for not just forgetting what she said."
"There was even a time in high school when she took me to a therapist, and she complained about how I never dropped what she said."
"She says I need to move on from it because it has affected my relationship with her, and she wants to fix it."
"I know I'm older now and it was so long ago, but it still hurts, and I feel like it's made me not want to have her in my life in the future, and I have told this to her."
"How I don't want her in my life once I move out, get married, or have my own kids."
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
Some reassured the OP that this sounded like a core memory more than a grudge.
"The axe forgets. The tree remembers."
"It sounds less like you're holding a grudge and more that this is a formative, core memory for you."
"It won't stop being a core memory (unless maybe with the help of a lot of therapy). Has your mom ever apologized for saying that? Because you don't have to forget to forgive, but if she's not remorseful for saying that terrible thing to her young child (not just remorseful that you remember it), then she probably needs therapy (or is a narcissist/sociopath/similar)."
"You are certainly not obligated to 'get over it.'" - Hot-Can3615
"This is not a 'grudge'; it is pain that is still felt to such a degree. If she said it, then she was thinking it. She'll probably never apologize, but that doesn't mean your pain is or was invalid." - Fast_Register_9480
"NOR. This kind of thing needs a real apology. Like she needs to acknowledge the damage and genuinely care about it. Brushing it off won’t make it go away." - TentacleWolverine
"NOR. Did she really want to fix things? She basically just told you to get over it from the start instead of giving you a sincere apology."
"That isn't working on anything. She wants you to get over it so she can pretend that she never said it, so she doesn't have to feel bad about what she did. It doesn't sound like she cares much about how you feel."
"She just doesn't want to deal with it. For that reason, I would still have issues with what she said." - Chemical-Ad6809
"If your relationship with your mother is being affected by the actions of your mother, your mother is responsible for fixing it."
"You should know you probably aren't ever going to get closure, but you don't have to swallow it down. It helps to be the person you needed when you were younger out loud to yourself, but especially to others."
"For example: My name is Liz, and my mom told me to go ahead and do it already and save us all the heartache when I finally had the courage to tell her about how much I've been struggling with self-harm and suicidal ideation. I'm never going to forgive her for that, and we have never been close as a result of her actions."
"You aren't holding onto a grudge; you have a core memory of your mother distilling her feelings into a world-shattering sentence."
"You did not have a secure attachment before and can't have one now because of the deep trauma. You do not apologize for being stabbed."
"Find another therapist. I mean it. Someone who cares about your well-being wouldn't force you to apologize for being verbally abused as a child. I'm 29 now, and I lived through it. I still struggle with suicidal ideation daily, but once I stopped relying on my mom and unstable sources for support, my life got better immediately."
"You want things for comfort and familiarity. Don't let your mom or your therapist gaslight you into crossing a boundary."
"It might help to ask for a written five-part apology from your mom. 1. Acknowledge what you did 2. Say why it was wrong 3. Promise not to do it again 4. Ask how to make amends. 5. Share your feelings at this time if there's anything you'd like to say."
"My mom can be a good person and a bad mom and role model. Being in your own company is so much better than poor company." - PotLuckyPodcast
Others hoped the OP would go no contact with her mother sooner rather than later.
"NOR. It’s emotional abuse. And you do not owe her closeness after that, especially as she refuses to be accountable for that and try to make it up to you."
"She knows you have her number, and she can’t forgive you for knowing what a colloidal b***h she is."
"It’s unlikely that will change; it will at least be turned back on you with her the victim."
"Stop expecting her to apologize. If she doesn’t pay your bills, ghost her." - SnooCheesecakes2723
"My mom said something similar. My brother and I were adopted, and when I was a teen, in front of a church lady, she said, 'We didn't even really want you, but the people didn't want to split y'all up, so we just took you, too.'"
"Me and the church lady were shook. When I say my falbbers were ghasted. Like huh? She didn't remember saying that when I brought it up years after the fact."
"I also got grounded two times for two separate nine weeks (for C's on my report card) and a three and a half to four months (for smoking at 16 and getting caught because she liked to just pop up out of nowhere), and we just had a talk about that, and she didn't even remember."
"She said, 'No, I didn't. I never grounded you for that long,' and when I gave my rebuttal, she said, 'Well, if I did, it definitely wasn't for no nine weeks or months,' and this started because she was praising me for reading so much and liking books. I said, 'Well, when you were grounded like me, that's all I could do (no TV, no friends outside of school, no music, nothing but my room and books)."
"There's a reason I only call or answer her calls once or twice every few weeks. And I only call to get food, really..." - ManicalMoe
"‘Fine, I'm sorry’ is not an apology."
"Whilst I’m sure it was said in anger, most things said in anger have a grain of truth. There are also some things that no half-decent parent ever says to their children, no matter how angry they are, and this is one of them! It also sounds like she has made repeated similar comments of not wanting you as her child."
"I understand her eldest had a disability, but this is no excuse for neglecting and emotionally abusing her younger child. Lots of families deal with a child with additional needs whilst still managing to prioritise their other kids. Children with Down syndrome are capable of understanding ‘that’s your sister's, not yours; give it back’ !! It sounds like your mum has mental health issues?"
"Do you have a present father or other family you can turn to?"
"Protect your peace. Your mum has hurt you time and time again, honestly, for no real gain other than momentarily satisfying her anger. You owe this woman nothing." - Background_Term9810
"I went through something similar. When I was a little girl, my mother used to make comments that implied she didn't want me, though it was never that explicit. 'I only had you because your brother wanted a sister,' and 'My figure never recovered after you; after your brother, it did.'"
"Each comment stayed with me, but I never addressed it with her. I tried to move on and leave it in the past. She did a lot of horrible things throughout my life, but her behavior was always ignored because that's the precedent my dad set, where she can do essentially whatever she wants."
"A few months ago, she came to see me because I was desperate for help and sick. Instead of helping, she made my life so much worse. I won't go into details. At one point, I could no longer keep it inside, and I told her that she is a narcissist, to which she responded with, 'It would have been better if I had never had you.'"
"In some ways, it felt really good to hear her come out and say it. It felt good to hear the truth I've always known."
"I don't know what you should do, but I've chosen to not forgive."
"Every time I forgave, I just let her know that she can get away with whatever horrible things she had done. Her apologies were never real apologies. She always found ways to blame me or others for whatever she had done."
"And I'm truly just done with it. As sad as it is to not have a mom, it's sadder to pretend that you have one when in reality you don't... quite the opposite, if anything." - Neos_Mom
"So, OP, what will hurt more: keeping her and the grudge in your life or making a break and going low or no contact with her?"
"Frankly, we've no idea of what she might have been dealing with at the time, but regardless, what she said was said only to cause pain and suffering. 'Sorry' doesn't magic that intent away."
"Me, I think spending time alone or with friends or in therapy away from her might be what you need here. You might come to some sort of acceptance, but if this is something that's just going to keep coming between you, then stop trying to have that relationship." - Tal_Tos_72
After the OP received feedback, she shared a few clarifications from her original post.
"I wanted to clear some things up, take accountability where it's due, and provide some much-needed context from many people commenting the same questions."
"I want to be completely honest. We had many arguments, and I was a rebellious kid. I acted out and argued with my mom."
"I don't want to give off the impression that I was an entirely innocent kid who never did anything wrong and my mom just snapped out of nowhere. We both said hateful and hurtful things to each other during our fights."
"Growing up, the only way she would accept an apology was if I got on my knees and begged her for forgiveness. If I ever asked her to apologize to me, she would say, 'I have nothing to apologize for; you should be the one begging for my forgiveness.'"
The OP had a lot of physical memories, too.
"Things also would turn into physical arguments, not just verbal ones."
"There were times when she would get so angry she would get physical. Like yanking me by my hair, twisting my arms, or throwing things at me (like remotes, a bug spray can, or a radio)."
"When she yanked my hair, I would fight back just to get her to let me go, and she would scream that I was trying to kill her and she would get me arrested. When she twisted my arm, and I begged her to stop because it felt like it was going to break, she would say she hoped it did."
"When she threw objects at me, she would say she wished they would hit my face."
"I remember in middle school, during an argument, she said she wished she could break my face and that she hated it because I look like my dad. I won’t lie, whenever she said things like that, I would say nasty comments about how she chose to have him put us in her."
While the OP wasn't financially ready to move out yet, she hoped to as soon as possible.
"Why haven't I moved out yet? The main reason I haven't been able to move out is financial."
"I wasn't making enough to support myself without worrying about whether I’d end up having to crawl back home."
"Thankfully, I have recently found a better-paying job. My plan is to move out between mid-to-late October, or early November at the latest."
"The only reason I can't leave this exact second is because I have a few legal/administrative things to get cleared up so I’m completely untied from my mom, which will take a few weeks."
The OP also had proof that her mother liked her sister better.
"Has my mom ever admitted to favoring my sister? Yes."
"In arguments, she has explicitly told me that she doesn't see me as her legitimate daughter, and that she adored my sister more and forever will. She has also called me a 'monster,' told me there is a certain type of evil inside of me, and said she was afraid I would be just like my dad and try to harm them."
"She would even tell me that she was telling family and friends these things about me, but then later claim she 'just said it in the moment' and wouldn't be crazy enough to actually tell people that."
"Because I was so confused growing up and didn't know if she was lying or telling the truth, I started avoiding our family when they came over."
"Naturally, that just made things worse because she would get mad at me for avoiding them (even now as an adult), completely ignoring the fact that she was the one who lied about what she told them."
Unfortunately, the OP didn't have support from her father.
"What about my dad? My dad is not in my life."
"He was around sporadically, but never as a stable parent. My parents separated before I was born and divorced when I was two or three."
"Growing up, it was just constant back-and-forth toxicity, with him telling me how toxic my mother was, and her telling me the same about him."
"He would mostly only come over to see my sister, and often used me to care for her if he wanted to take her out to eat. Ultimately, my dad didn't care about anyone else other than my sister (and his drugs)."
"I hope this can clear some questions on the original post. I know I didn't provide many details as I originally should have. I honestly didn't want to post something too long, and I honestly did not expect it to be noticed."
"Thank you all for taking time to talk to me and share your thoughts."
The subReddit fully sided with the OP, pointing out that no matter how heated the moment was, it would never excuse the terrible things the OP's mother had said to her.
If the OP's mother really wanted a relationship with her, she'd drop the defensiveness and demands, offer a genuine apology, and work hard to be better for both of her children.
That takes a very rare kind of person to pull off, and it didn't sound like the OP's mother had that in her.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://findahelpline.com/i/iasp