Mom, 55, Sees Nothing Wrong With Wearing Daughters' Clothes, Sharing Their Closet
Karen Hammonds, 55, made total turnaround after leaving 'abusive' husband.
Aug. 11, 2011 — -- Karen Hammonds refuses to dress the part of a 55-year-old mother of three grown children.
Her daughters are her BFFs and she follows their lead to be fashion-forward – from makeup to hair styles, and most of all, dress. There's no need for closets in their household, because they share their clothes.
When they go out together, they get strong reactions.
"People say 'Charlie's Angels just walked in,' and we just like, love it and ham it up," Hammonds, of central New Jersey, told "Good Morning America."
Hammonds doesn't let her age stop her from wearing sexy dresses, 5-inch heels and skin-tight jeans.
She doesn't think there's anything wrong with it.
"I think I'm trying to dress like a cougar," she said, laughing.
Her daughters, 26-year-old Crystal Hammonds and 22-year-old Liz Hammonds, say their mom is their favorite person to hang out with.
"I just I really find it cool that I have a mom that I can go out with and she's not just a mom she's a friend," Liz said.
Parents who are friends with their children tend to pick up cues from them. Retailers call it reverse socialization. Comptoir des Cotonniers, a French brand, is even targeting mother-daughter shoppers. They built a business on clothing two generations in the same boutique.
Some noted mother-daughter pairs are part of the dress-alike trend -- Demi Moore and Rumer Willis, Kris Kardashian and Kris Jenner, and Kate and Carole Middleton. Pop icon Madonna and her daughter, Lourdes, even created their own fashion line together.
Hammond's extreme makeover started when she left her husband, whom she alleges was abusive.
"I had a very abusive marriage … it wasn't good," she said.
That 20-year relationship affected her self-esteem, so her appearance was the least of her concerns. During that time, she wore oversized tops, dresses and hats, all a way of hiding inside her clothing.
"I grew up on a pig farm and he always talked me down and said 'you're a pig farmer,'" she said of her husband's taunts. "So I kind of stayed there."
But not anymore.
"I am a survivor … And I want to be an example to my most precious creations," she said.
Seven years ago, she ended her marriage and reclaimed her youthful spirit.
"I needed to start a life and I looked in the mirror and I'm like 'well, that's not going to work' … I feel better now when I look better and so I pay a little bit more attention to it," she said.
Liz has seen a total change in her mother.
"She used to not have as much confidence as she does … she didn't look at herself in the mirror and say 'I'm a beautiful woman, I'm a mother of three and I deserve to go out and have fun,'" she said.
Today, the trio is inseparable, and shopping for their shared wardrobe is one of their favorite pastimes.
"When you look good, you feel good and I'm so happy that she can feel good now," Liz said of her mother's new outlook.
Hammonds says she has a "lot of life" in her.
"I just want to enjoy my life and … my second half of my life. I want it to be more exciting," she said.
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