The Fashion Designer

by Nancy Moser

  Vesta faced her. “Do not apologize. You are the one who gave me the courage to fight for myself.”

  “But if you’d rather be home…”

  Vesta bit her lip. “I want to be home and help with the business. But until Richard comes around, I choose to stay here and work.”

  “Do you…do you think he will come around?”

  Vesta’s eyes grew sad and a bit panicked. “I hope he will. I hope one of these days he will miss me enough to come see me.”

  “He could come see you and insist you go home and abandon all this.”

  She sighed deeply. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “Which life would you choose?”

  She hesitated. “I have no idea.”

  The door opened behind them. Maude came in. “I saw the light on. What’s got you two up so early?”

  Annie looked at Vesta, wondering if she wanted to share, but Vesta shook her head no. So Annie picked up the list and gave it to Maude. “We’ve named the dresses.”

  Maude perused the list. “Well done. I’d been wondering if we should name them. Now when we have an advertisement we can put a caption on the dresses instead of having women come in and say ‘I want the dress with the large collar.’”

  “Exactly,” Annie said. She moved to the next item of her to-do list. “Let’s make an inventory of how many we have completed in which size.”

  Vesta and Maude counted, and Annie made the list. “We only have a dozen more to make and we’ll be ready.”

  “Ready for what exactly?” Vesta asked. “You’ve never really said.”

  “We need to have a fashion show,” Annie said. “Right here, on the street.”

  “On the street?” Vesta asked.

  Maude scoffed. “That will certainly be different than the one we had at the Sampsons’.”

  “Which is the point.” Annie moved to the window and looked out at the lightening day. “I can imagine women lining the street like they do for a parade. Our models—their neighbors—will walk down the middle of the street, showing off the dresses.”

  “That sounds glorious,” Vesta said.

  Maude raised a finger to make a point. “But before we do that, we need a place where the women can buy the dresses. We need a storefront. I said as much weeks ago, and we haven’t pursued the idea.”

  “I know,” Annie said.

  “What’s stopping you?”

  “The expense.”

  “But Henrietta said—”

  “I know,” Annie repeated. “She’s made a generous offer, but the expense will be great. Rent, counters, racks…. I want to make sure the dresses are ready before I commit to such a thing.”

  Maude pointed to the inventory list. “We are nearly through. It’s time.”

  “Are you sure we can’t just sell out of this space?”

  Maude shook her head. “If we are a success and have high demand, do you really want women coming to the workshop, interrupting our work in order to buy? There’s barely room for all of us when we’re here working.”

  Annie knew she was right. “Nothing big. Nothing fancy. Even Lane Bryant started small. We need to do the same.”

  “I agree.”

  “How do we find a space?” Vesta asked.

  “I’ll be in charge of that,” Maude said. “My mother’s husband gave me the name of a man who could help us. I’ll go see him today.”

  Annie pressed a hand to her heart. “Things are moving so fast.”

  “No, they’re not,” Maude said with a laugh. “We’ve been working toward this for months. It’s just that now we are close to our goal. Close to offering our dresses to the world.”

  “It’s frightening.”

  “It’s exciting,” Maude said. “But we’ll need money for the rent. Can I ask Henrietta for it?”

  “I’ve already asked her for money twice. Two draws of twenty-five dollars each.”

  “Then make it three times.” Maude put an arm of comfort around Annie’s shoulders. “Worry no more. I will find us a home for Unruffled.”

  Maude stopped in front of the building, checked her note, then went in. She found the offices of Ricci & Company on the left, the name etched into the glass of the door in a manly block lettering.

  She went inside and found a secretary at a desk and two seats nearby for waiting. There were two offices. Inside one, she spotted an Italian Adonis. He had chiseled features, an Italian nose—like her own—and black wavy hair that refused to be tamed. She had the fleeting thought that she much preferred this tousled look to hair that was oiled down.

  “May I help you, miss?” the secretary asked.

  She stepped forward. “My name is Miss Nascato. I am here to see Mr. Ricci. My stepfather, Hans Brunner, recommended that I—”

  Then he was in the doorway and stepped forward to offer his hand. “Welcome, Miss Nascato. How is Hans?”

  “Very well.” I think.

  “I am glad for his recommendation. How may I help you?”

  “I am here to rent a retail space.”

  He swept a hand toward his office. “Come in and tell me your needs.”

  I need you to not be so handsome. And charming.

  He held a chair for her, and she had a whiff of him. Musk and spice. Quite delicious.

  He sat behind an oak desk and moved the papers he had been working on to the side, giving her his full attention. At the moment, she almost would have preferred him to be less attentive. His gaze made her look away.

  “I…my partners and I are seamstresses, fashion designers actually, and—”

  “I admire creativity. Beauty begets beauty.”

  She felt herself blush. “Yes, well, thank you, I guess.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Maude had the impulse to go into the reception area, close the door, and speak through it. Anything to remove herself from his heady presence. You do not get heady about men, Maude. You care nothing for any man. So just say what you came to say and be done with it.

  She took a breath to fuel her courage. “We need a retail space to sell our dresses.”

  “Where?”

  “We’re not sure. We’d like it to be near other retail spaces, not isolated, but not in an exclusive area either, as our customers are working women.”

  He took up a pen and made some notes. “How many square feet?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you have a large inventory?”

  That she could answer. “Twelve designs made in eight sizes, two of each size. So racks for 192 dresses.”

  “And accessories?”

  “We haven’t thought of that, but yes. Perhaps.”

  “You’ll need a back room for stock, a counter out front, a sitting area, fitting rooms.”

  She found she could smile. “It appears you know what I need better than I do.”

  He returned her smile. “It’s my job.”

  She thought of a point that might help. “Are you familiar with the new Lane Bryant store?”

  “On Fifth?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “I found that space for them.”

  How encouraging. “We need less space than they have. One floor. I was never in their first store, but I expect its size is more appropriate.”

  “I understand.” He set his pen in its holder. “What is your budget?”

  She had no idea. “Next to nothing. We haven’t sold a dress yet. We assume they will sell but have no guarantee.”

  “You are proceeding on faith.”

  His words pleased her. “We are. God-willing, our store will be a success.”

  “God-willing. What is its name?”

  “Unruffled.”

  He thought about this a moment then laughed. “A name that has numerous implications.” He leaned forward a bit, his eyes gleaming. “Are you an unruffled woman, Miss Nascato?”

  She used to be.

  Where did the day go?

  Maude and Mr. Ricci stood outs
ide the last property on their list while he found the right key. She perused the neighborhood. The street was still a side street, but wider than many, allowing some sunlight to linger, even at the end of the day. She spotted a millinery shop, a tailor’s, a tobacconist, a grocer, and a shoe store. All had bay windows for their displays, with jaunty signs above, marking their establishments. A worker at the shoe store was outside, sweeping the sidewalk, and nodded toward her. There was pride of ownership here, a sense of respect and common purpose.

  And there were customers. Although it was late afternoon—nearly four o’clock—men and women strolled the street, stopped at the windows to discuss some offering on the other side, and entered the stores. And more importantly, a good many came out with a package and a smile that indicated the transaction inside had been successful to both parties.

  That was the essence of it. Satisfaction. Maude felt it herself, just standing there, observing. It was a feeling of inevitability, of rightness, of peace.

  “We’ll take it,” she said as he found the right key.

  “But you haven’t seen inside yet.”

  She shook her head at his caveat. “It’s the right place. I know it.” She swept an arm as though presenting the neighborhood to him. “Just look at all this.”

  He took a moment and did as she asked. “I told you it was a bustling area. In fact, it’s rare for a space to open up. I saved this best space for last.”

  “If you’d shown me this first, we would have been done long ago.”

  He grinned. “But then I would have missed spending an afternoon in your presence.”

  Although his words were the essence of flattery, she felt the same. She had enjoyed every minute of their excursion around Manhattan. Although the topics of their conversation had centered on business, she felt she’d grown to know him at a level that would not have been possible without the time spent by his side.

  “Shall we?” he said, opening the door for her.

  Is this the place, Lord? As she entered, she felt a wave of assurance wash over her. This was the place.

  There was one large room with white wainscoting. The upper walls were painted a soft green, and the floors were oak and shone with a layer of shellac. There was a long display case as often seen in department stores and another raised counter that held a cash register. She touched its keys. “Does this come with the space?”

  “It does.” He moved to the three doors on the back wall. “These are the dressing rooms.” He opened one door to reveal a tufted chair and a full-length mirror.

  Maude could imagine customers trying on their clothes, preening in the mirrors, saying the words she had uttered just minutes before: “I’ll take it.”

  “And back here…” He moved to the final door, off to the right. “Here is the back room.” He found a light switch.

  The room was long and narrow, and would be clean with a good sweeping. There were built-in shelves at the far end, a door leading to an alley that would be perfect for deliveries, and even a small water closet that was a step above the other such necessary rooms they’d seen in storerooms. It had a gilt oval mirror above a small sink that was actually clean. There was even a painting of roses on the wall.

  Mr. Ricci nodded at the space. “The previous renter sold fur coats, so they created a nice room for their guests’ needs.”

  “It will allow ladies to linger longer,” Maude said. She returned to the main room, stood in the middle of it, and swirled in a circle, her arms outstretched. “It’s perfect!”

  “Do you want to know how much?”

  She felt silly for not asking. “I suppose I do, though I’m not sure I’d know whether it was a good price.”

  “You can trust me on that. The price is fifty dollars a month.”

  His smile suggested the price was a good one. And yet…. “It’s much more than an apartment.”

  “It’s much larger than an apartment. It has a presence on the street. A display window. You don’t live here, you make money here. Money to pay the rent.”

  It was all true. And they would sell dresses. Wouldn’t they? Plus, Henrietta had said she would pay for it.

  “Do the others need to see it?”

  She hesitated but only for a moment. “I don’t think so. I know them well enough—I know our business well enough—to know this place is Unruffled. We’ll take it.”

  “You will not be disappointed. Let’s go back to my office and sign the papers.”

  As he locked up, she looked into the store through its display window. She could visualize a mannequin inside, some hats on stands, some shoes, a floral arrangement…

  “How did you know this was the place?” he asked.

  There had been nothing concrete, no ray of light shining down from heaven, no booming voice saying, “Rent me!” It was more subtle but no less certain.

  “I felt peace. A knowing.”

  “That sounds too simple.”

  “I’ve heard that’s how God often works.”

  He offered her his arm and they walked toward the streetcar stop. “I admire your certainty, and I’m sure He appreciates the credit.”

  It was an odd way to put it. “He deserves the credit on this, and so much more.”

  His eyebrows rose.

  Although she rarely spoke of it, his question elicited a memory. “I should have been on the Titanic.”

  “The—?”

  “My friends and I were in Paris, getting ideas from the fashion houses to take back to our employer, the Butterick Pattern Company. We were coming home and had tickets on the Titanic.”

  “What stopped you?”

  “God.”

  “Again, I’m sure He appreciates the credit.”

  She stopped walking, forcing him to stop with her. “Do not disparage my faith, Mr. Ricci. It may not be perfect, but it has brought me through many hard times.”

  His face grew troubled, and he nodded his acquiescence. “I apologize. I did not mean to do so.”

  “You weren’t there,” she said.

  “No, I wasn’t. Tell me what happened.”

  She forced her ire away and took his arm again. She wanted him to know, to understand this enormous milestone. “We were in the train station in Paris, catching the train to Cherbourg. The Titanic was stopping there before heading to America. But then we heard a little boy crying, calling for his mother. We went to help and learned that he couldn’t find her, and she was expecting a baby.”

  “How frightening for him.”

  “We could not abandon him though the train was leaving. We stayed behind, found the mother, and Annie even helped with the birth. They named the little girl after her.”

  “How dramatic.”

  Maude was disappointed that was all he saw in the moment. “We missed the train and there was none other leaving in time for us to catch the Titanic before it sailed. Madame Le Fleur, a woman we all worked for at Butterick, did not stay behind. She perished.”

  “Oh.”

  “That could have been us. Yet God made us cross paths with that little boy. His need saved us.”

  “You could have ignored him. I’m sure many people did.”

  “I’ve thought of that. God gave us a choice, and we made the right one. That is why I look to Him to offer me choices. That is why I depend on Him to lead me rightly.”

  “Like He did today when we found this property?”

  “Like He did today.”

  In more ways than one.

  Maude paused at the top of the stairs, out of breath. She’d rushed back from Mr. Ricci’s, wanting to catch everyone at the workshop before they left for the day. She straightened, needing extra space to breathe beneath her corset.

  She heard voices inside, the rumblings of work being wrapped up for the day. She went inside, raised her arms in the air, and declared, “Unruffled has a home!”

  But instead of applause or words of joy and acclamation, she was greeted with blank stares.

  “Did you hear wha
t I said?”

  Annie broke the silence. “You signed papers? You agreed to it without us seeing it first?”

  Maude dug her fists into her hips. “That’s what you sent me to do, isn’t it?”

  “To look, not to sign.”

  A wave of panic swirled inside her. Had she gone too far? The deed was done. The papers were a legal document. Money had been promised.

  Edna stepped forward, her hands pressing downward. “Calm now, ladies. We did send her out on this task. We do need a space quickly. Give her a chance to tell us about it.”

  “I’d love to hear,” Vesta said.

  Maude struggled against wanting to storm away and leave them hanging. But her excitement took over. She told them all the details. As she did, their eyes lit up, their heads nodded, and their smiles won out.

  “It sounds marvelous,” Henrietta said.

  Henrietta. The source of their funding. “I did have to promise Mr. Ricci some money up-front. Fifty dollars for a month’s rent and fifty more for a deposit. It’s Friday, so could you give me a money order or bank check on Monday? Or go with me to see him?”

  An odd flash passed over Henrietta’s eyes before she said, “Of course.”

  “When can we see it?” Annie asked.

  “Antonio said—”

  “Antonio?”

  She felt herself blush. “As we were going over the papers, we exchanged first names.”

  “Is he young and handsome?” Vesta asked.

  “I gave you no indication of his looks or age.”

  Henrietta laughed. “The flush of your cheeks gave it away.”

  Maude needed to nip this in the bud. “Yes, he is handsome. And young. And charming. But he means nothing to me beyond the business we have together.”

  “Ha!” Gert said. “I’s heard that before.”

  Vesta joined in. “His name sounds Italian. I’ve heard Italian men are often charming, romantic, and—”

  “I care nothing for him!” Maude realized her outburst was melodramatic, and also realized it was directed at herself as much as her friends. She calmed herself with a breath. “I’m sorry. But you know I am not interested in finding a beau or courting or any such matter.”

  “Why not?” Henrietta said.

  Annie and Edna were the only friends who knew about her past and the violence done against her. She didn’t want the others to know, so she simply said, “I cannot bear children. And so I have decided it would be unfair to lead a man on with the normal expectation of having a family.”