Maybe she thought she was being cute, or perhaps she thought it was funny. But former Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel has outraged her Instagram followers by posting a photo of herself wearing her four-year-old daughter's pyjamas.
"This is my daughter's nightgown and PJ shorts. Think we're ready to start sharing clothes yet?" Frankel wrote on Sunday when posting the picture of herself in daughter Bryn's Hello Kitty themed sleepwear of ruffled pink top coloured shorts and matching slippers.
The strange picture attracted an instant reaction, with many of Frankel's followers saying it was inappropriate for a grown women to be squeezing into a young girl's clothing.
"I’m sorry this isn’t cute…a grown woman shouldn’t be the size of a 4-year-old especially when they have admitted to having an eating disorder in the past!" one follower wrote.
"Women shouldn't brag about being as thin as a small child… Go eat a sandwich," said another.
The founder of Skinnygirl Cocktails has in the past confessed she used to starve herself and then go on food binges. She also admitted to trying multiple diets to maintain the slim figure she uses to promote her businesses.
"I used to go out and drink and go to the deli downstairs," she told Us Weekly in 2011. "The next day, I would vow not to eat because last night I wasn't 'good.' Food was my best friend or enemy."
But Frankel is adamant her battles with food ended in 2006, and defended posting the picture this week.
"BREAKING NEWS! World Scandal: Former reality star, failed talk show host & cocktail maven jokes by wearing her kids' pjs! #itcantbetrue," Frankel Tweeted on Monday.
"When ur 4 year old peanut says 'mommy please put my dress on' & giggles uncontrollably, u do what ur told," she also wrote by way of explanation.
She doesn't say whether her daughter also told her to share the picture with her social media followers around the world.
Perhaps it's fortunate not many mothers will ever have to decide whether to give in to their daughter's requests to wear children's clothing. The sheer logistics of squeezing an adult body into a child's size 4 means such a request would usually be a pointless one.
