A new mom said she received 'brutal' criticism for dressing her 5-month-old every morning so he learns to take pride in his appearance: 'The mom-shaming's gotta stop'

• A TikToker is teaching her infant son to get dressed each morning to take pride in his appearance.
• Geordian Abel went viral and said she received "brutal" comments calling her stuck up.
• She's opted to poke fun at the backlash and stands by her "look good, feel good" philosophy.

Geordian Abel, a fashion influencer and boutique owner from Fort Worth, Texas, was besieged with unexpected backlash in July when she explained in a viral TikTok that she dresses her five-month-old son every morning so he learns to take pride in his appearance.

"I think it's important to instill in him from a young age that we get up, we get dressed, we take pride in what we're wearing and how we look," she said in a July 27 TikTok. Abel showed off her tan maxi dress with a bow, and her infant son Hutton decked out in a green Polo onesie. 

Abel, 29, who has 31,000 followers on the app and is the proprietor of the online boutique Flourish In Frills, told Insider she was compelled to make the TikTok as she frequently shares her outfit-of-the-days (OOTDs) and "people would question why we would get 'dressed to the nines' every day." 

The video, captioned 'Teach 'em young," has now amassed two million views.

But Abel wasn't prepared for the onslaught of criticism she received, which she called "brutal" in a follow-up video, adding that commenters called her "stuck up" and a "rich kid."

"I too wear a one shoulder cocktail dress on a Monday morning," one quipped. "The greatest gift you can give him is to teach him not to care what other people think," another commenter responded.

The TikToker @bugsbryant even stitched Abel's video in a viral response with 2.3 million views. "We are in the same clothes we slept in," she deadpans, holding her child on her hip. "It is currently 3 pm, and we will stay in this attire until tomorrow or until I decide to do the mountain of laundry that's upstairs."

Abel told TikTok viewers last month that she's taking the flood of criticism with a grain of salt. But even though she's developed a thick skin after sharing her life on the internet for the past seven years, "the mom-shaming's gotta stop," she said. 

In an August 29 video, she explained that dressing up Hutton in the morning could help "set him up for success for job interviews" or even help to counteract depression.

Commenters on this TikTok seemed to agree. "Exactly!!! I hate that people were mom shaming you about this," one person wrote. "There's so many benefits to changing out of PJs in the morning."

Abel told Insider she did not expect her video "would get such negative reaction," as she's "never known any different than getting up and getting dressed." She subsequently decided to poke fun at the firestorm by sharing a series of videos where she dresses up in increasingly fancy gowns to do household chores. (In one from August 25, she dressed Hutton in a tiny tuxedo.)

At the end of the day, the flood of negativity hasn't changed her perspective. 

"I am super passionate about look good, feel good," she told Insider, adding it was something that her mother instilled in her from a young age. Furthermore, clothes are her livelihood.

"I probably love clothes a tad more than the next girl," she said. "But even getting up and putting on athleisure, if that's their jam, does a world of difference."