Julietta smiled at grumbling Amelie. "It's because I prepared my clothes in a hurry."

"By the way, is it okay for Princess Kiellini to go alone like this, without a single maid?"

Julietta replied to Sophie's concern, "I haven't been able to find a private maid yet. Vera, a maid of Marquise Raban, takes care of me, but she's been out a lot these days to follow the Marquise. That's why I came here alone."

"You have to get a private maid quickly, even if it is inconvenient."

"I'm careful because she has to be someone I can trust," Julietta answered and walked into the studio.

"But Julietta, what the h.e.l.l is this ugly thing that came to me yesterday?"

A body with only the upper part, a mannequin with no arms and legs that the blacksmith had sent to be checked first stood in the corner of the workroom.

"Oh! It is here. Did you get only one?" Julietta inquired, scrutinizing the scarlet copper body.

"He said he sent it to make sure it was done right. If there's nothing wrong, he'll continue."

"That's perfect. Tell the blacksmith to make the rest of them as this one is. When you get the rest, you can put them on here and display them in the hall as soon as the dresses are done."

"Are you going to put them here?"

"Yes. They will preview of the dresses in our dressing shop. We'll also have bags, shoes, hats, and so on." Julietta experimented with a less complete dress hanging on one side of the studio.

"How about it? Is it plausible?"

"How did you end up thinking about this? It must be very different from just ill.u.s.trations."

"You won't be able to make all kinds in advance, so you should have them in a picture book, but they'll feel different about it if they see some kinds of dresses on display. They can try it on in advance."

In this era where there was no ready-to-wear, n.o.bles had to go to the dressing shops and get measured. Then, depending on the mood of the person who would wear the clothes, the designer made the clothes for them.

Designers' abilities were proven according to how responsive they were, and famous designers were so popular that people couldn't even wait for their turns during the social season twice a year. As a result, the higher n.o.bility was able to order their clothes in the more famous shops, and the success of the dressing shops varied depending on which aristocrat's lady and wives ordered their clothes that season.

The famous dressing shops were so busy, their power matched that of most aristocrats. As a result, most of the n.o.blemen of the lower cla.s.s who were lucky enough to overcome fierce compet.i.tion and order their clothes from popular designers were forced to wear them, even if they did not like them.

Julietta remembered the stories of the actresses in the theater complaining each time. They could order their clothes from the dressing shops that were famous in Dublin using the power of their lovers, but they used to express their irritation since the dresses were not matched for them. Still, it was very impressive of her to be proud of herself after her irritation, saying that no one could ignore her in these clothes.

Julietta wanted to get rid of the phenomenon where they couldn't even complain about their clothes, because it was more important to be able to order clothes from a certain dressing shop than it was to like them. She wanted to give consumers the right and freedom to choose and wear clothes that they liked. It was sad to have to wear something so expensive that they couldn't say they didn't like it.

Julietta planned to show and choose more diverse designs and decorations to consumers, mostly picture books with similar designs, shoes, and hats. It was scary how much it would cost to do all this, but it was something she really wanted to do.

Julietta explained to Amelie and Sophie about her plan, and then went into the cubicle to try on a dress made over the last few days.

***

"The clothes have arrived from the dressing shop."

The day of Julietta's debut party finally dawned. From morning on, clothing prepared by Amelie and Sophie day and night arrived at the Kiellini estate. The maids came up with the clothes and various props and put them down in the room.

Meanwhile, Simone had been busy seeing her old friends again after leaving Julietta the job of the dressing shop. The move was aimed at quelling public suspicions about her niece having gone down to Tilia Territory for health reasons. So, it wasn't until today that she saw Julietta's debut dress.

She frowned at unfamiliar designs. "It's different from the clothes that are in fas.h.i.+on these days. Isn't that too prominent?"

It was now fas.h.i.+onable among ladies and young wives to wear gowns with deeply lined, sleeveless dresses decorated with ribbons and lace. Also, they used to decorate their sleeves with thick wrinkles despite men and women, but these dresses themselves were completely different in form from those dresses.

Julietta replied, looking down at a flower-like dress spread out on the bed. "If I kicked out the best designer in Austern and went out dressed in a similar outfit that doesn't have anything to do with them, they would think it's weird," Julietta said to Simone, who was still frowning.