Is it ever OK to copy a friend's clothes?

Following a heated debate on Mumsnet, we ask...

- JOHANNA BELL

YES

'I choose to take the compliment'

Ashley O'Neill, 37, lives in Langdon Hills, Essex, with her 13-year-old son.

When I was growing up, I had a friend who copied everything I did and at the time it annoyed me so much. I got a piercing, she got the same one, I dyed my hair, she picked the same shade, I wore this, she wore that.

It was only when she told me how much she admired me that I realised her copying me was actually very sweet and something that should flatter me instead of irritate me.

When she turned up to a party wearing a top the same as mine, I just smiled and told her that she looked nice. And when she bought the same bag as me, I decided it was sweet that she thought my taste in accessories was good enough to emulate.