The Fashion Designer

by Nancy Moser

  “You got your girl.”

  Sean laughed with utter delight. “May I hold her?”

  Vesta helped move the child from mother to father, and Annie marveled at Sean’s ease, as if he was created for such a moment. He immediately began to rock and touched her head with reverence. The baby squirmed, and her hand appeared from beneath the blanket. Sean gave her his finger, and she wrapped her tiny fingers around it. His eyes lit up. “Look at this!”

  “She likes you. It’s the first of countless times she’ll hold the hand of her papa.”

  Sean sat on the edge of the bed and leaned close to give Annie a proper kiss. “I love you more than I can say.” He looked at their child. “I love the both of you. My girls.”

  “As I love you. And…Victoria.”

  They had discussed names but had not come to choose one. Until now. “Do you approve?” Annie asked. “She looks so regal, so strong. She is our victory.”

  He looked at Victoria as if weighing the name against the precious being in his arms. “Hello, Victoria. Welcome to the family.”

  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

  But the greatest of these is love.

  1 CORINTHIANS 13:13 NIV

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you have enjoyed the journey of the shop, Unruffled. Annie and the others worked so hard to make it happen! Actually…I would love to work there.

  An entrepreneurial spirit is deeply embedded in my family. My husband, Mark, and I started a commercial flooring business in the eighties, and each of my siblings and my parents had (or still have) their own businesses. It’s in our blood. Each of our immigrant ancestors did the same whether they came here in the 1640s or the 1800s. They grabbed hold of the American dream and made it their own.

  As a seamstress I know there’s a bit of fashion designer in me. I love to watch Project Runway, which challenges budding fashion designers to create on demand. I’m always thinking about what I would do to address each challenge. Just last week I bought a luscious piece of fabric for no reason other than it made me say, “Ooooh.”

  The era of The Fashion Designer was a time of enormous change in fashion. During 1912–13 the changes were just appearing, the focus turning to function and comfort more than frippery and frills. Coming next in history is World War I, which spurred designs offering additional ease of movement that led to perhaps the biggest change of all, the Roaring Twenties, with short skirts, boxy silhouettes, and bobbed hair. I’m glad Annie could be in business at the start of these monumental changes.

  A few notes about the history in this book: I’ve mentioned this sort of thing before…but the inclusion of many of the historical moments came as a surprise.

  I never planned on having Lane Bryant be a part of this story. While researching something else I came upon Lena Bryant Malsin’s story and just had to include it. Lane Bryant was the first company to mass-produce maternity and plus-sized clothes. I read that between 1909 and 1923, their sales grew from $50,000 to $5 million! Truly, an American success story. (You can see an ad for their maternity corset in the back of this book.)

  Pier 54, where Henrietta went to catch a ship home, was the pier where—just seven months earlier—the Carpathia docked, carrying home many of the survivors from the Titanic. It also was the pier from which the Lusitania departed in 1915. That ship was sunk by a German U-boat during World War I and 1,193 people were killed. The terminal had fire damage in the ’30s and was finally torn down in 1991. But the iron arch at the entry remains.

  The menu at Delmonico’s in Chapter 23 was the menu for Mark Twain’s seventieth birthday party held there in 1905. He invited 170 friends and peers. Half were women, with most guests having ties to writing or illustrating. Twain gave a long speech, proving himself to be a master wordsmith. He left his guests moaning with laughter but also brought them to tears. One particular bit of wisdom that impressed me was this: “We can’t reach old age by another man’s road.” If you’d like to read an article about the dinner, written by a reporter who was there, go to: http://www.twainquotes.com/19051206.html. It will make you wish you could have been in attendance.

  The Sampsons’ home at 451 Madison Avenue still exists and is called the Villard House. In 1978 it was altered into Helmsley Palace. (Remember the notorious Leona Helmsley?) It is now the Lotte New York Palace hotel. I actually found floor plans and photos of the original structure, which interested me greatly since I have a college degree in architecture. The intricate marquetry and many of the intricate decoration still exists.

  Mrs. Mixter’s book: Health and Beauty Hints was another fun find. The quote Henrietta reads about exercising her face muscles is from the book. I bought a copy and found the suggestions for massage, exercise, and cleanliness logical, if not a bit overboard. But I cannot disparage Mrs. Mixter’s directions too much—though I heartily reject going three weeks without washing my hair—because when I look in my cabinets and see all the miracle wrinkle creams, conditioners, shampoos, and lotions I realize the desire to look our best is timeless.

  I also didn’t plan on including the election of 1912. Most elections are rather ordinary—except this one, with Teddy Roosevelt being shot and creating a third party, and a sitting vice president dying before the election.

  Beyond the history, the characters always surprise me. When Henrietta bowed out of funding the business, I had no idea where they would get the money. And then I realized it was Election Day (November 5, 1912) and Eleanor Sampson would probably be interested in the suffragette movement, and if she was interested in that, she wouldn’t have time to pursue Eleanor’s Couture. And Eleanor had money…. Voila! An answer to both our problems.

  So if these points of history weren’t planned, what was?

  I wanted to talk about daily life. Yet that goal showed itself to be problematic, as nothing was standard. Since the country was going through so many revolutionary changes, some apartments had private bathrooms, stoves, iceboxes, and electricity. And some still did not. That’s why Edna’s and Annie’s apartments were modern, while Henrietta’s was behind the times.

  I was surprised to find that almost all retail establishments bore someone’s name. That’s one reason I chose Unruffled for the ladies’ shop. I wanted Annie to be ahead of the curve.

  Women were filling up the workforce, from factories to offices. Male secretaries and bank tellers were being replaced by females—a change that has obviously endured. Rent was another detail that was hard to pin down. Hotel prices. And banking. And whether or not stores offered sized dresses “on the rack” to take home. I tried very hard to get it right.

  I thank the internet for these details. The idea of going to a library to do this research one book at a time…the thought of that process overwhelms me. The internet let me take a rabbit trail to find a detail and still have time to return to writing where I could incorporate the detail into a scene. The hard point was staying on task. There’s so much to learn!

  On a personal note, when Sean tells Annie, “You got your girl,” that’s exactly what my husband told me when our oldest daughter, Emily, was born.

  I also slipped in a reference to some characters from my Manor House Series. The love story of Lady Newley (Lila) is shown in Love of the Summer fields and Bride of the Summer fields, and Henrietta shows up in Rise of the Summer fields. I like to intertwine storylines when I can, as it makes the characters seem more real, as if life goes on after the last page. I hope you agree.

  If you’d like to read about how Annie came to work as a maid at Crompton Hall, read my novella, “Pin’s Promise” in the anthology Christmas Stitches (October 2018). There’s a teaser excerpt of this story at the back of this book.

  I hope you enjoyed getting to know the ladies and stepping into their world. I assume you are happy that Henrietta and Maude found love. You’re all invited to the weddings. No gift required, but wear something that proves you are an unruffled, unveiled, unstoppable woman.

  DISCUSSION QUEST
IONS FOR THE FASHION DESIGNER

  Note: I’ve provided a lot of questions to use for your book groups.

  Feel free to choose the ones you like the best.

  1. In chapter 4, Annie is speaking with the owner of Lane Bryant, who shares her life story. They agree that every experience has a purpose and nothing is wasted. In Annie’s path from maid to clerk to pattern artist to fashion designer, could she have achieved her current status without the other experiences?

  2. In chapter 5, Annie falls down the stairs and is forced to stop overworking. Yet good comes out of the fall when she has time to embrace a new direction to the business. When has a God-stop in your own life brought about a change for the better?

  3. In chapter 8, Vesta is crushed when Richard says her inheritance cannot be used to help Sean and Annie’s business. It makes her reassess their marriage and their faith. She sees that, “With success had come spiritual apathy, or if not complete apathy, a passivity that bordered on taking God for granted. And—dare she say it—a certain level of expectedness and entitlement, as though they deserved their many blessings.” Have you experienced this feeling of entitlement? How can it be countered?

  4. In chapter 10, Edna and Maude discuss finding the balance of trusting God to do everything He can, while also doing our part. Name a time in your life when you applied this truth and trusted God and did the work while you waited for God’s full answer.

  5. In chapter 10, Maude visits her estranged mother and tells her about the rape, its physical consequences, and her choice to never marry. What do you think about Maude’s choice?

  6. In chapter 11, Annie is worried about money, yet everyone else seems to be in good spirits. “The disparity between their confidence that everything would work out fine, and Annie’s doubt that it would, became too much for her.” Name a time in your life when you were worried and others were not. How did you overcome your worry?

  7. In chapter 11, Henrietta arrives in New York and offers to fund the business. God has met their need. Name a time God met a need, perhaps in unexpected ways.

  8. In chapter 13, Henrietta is transported into memories of her great-grandmother when she smells a familiar lavender perfume. What scent reminds you of a specific person, event, or place?

  9. In chapter 14, the women discuss corsets and comment that they can’t imagine ever being without them. How do you think they would respond to today’s fashions?

  10. In chapter 14, the ladies discuss fashion through the ages. During the Regency Era (think Jane Austen), fashion was fairly comfortable with flowing fabrics, empire waists, and no hoops. But in the coming decades, huge sleeves, crinolines, hoops, and bustles made fashion fussy and impractical. If the fashion of 1800–1820 was relaxed, why do you think it reverted back to such constriction again—for another hundred years? Think of the fashion during the entire twentieth century. What constrictions did the fashion of that century place upon women?

  11. In chapter 14, Henrietta and Gert discuss love. They’ve both had their hearts feel “small.” Do you think small love can grow in a marriage? Do you think Henrietta should have married Hank? What do you think about her decision to come to America?

  12. In chapter 15, Annie feels like everyone has someone special, a confidante. She has people around her but feels isolated. Name a time you have felt isolated—even in a crowd. How did you overcome the feeling?

  13. In chapter 15, Maude tells Antonio that she will take the retail space before seeing it. When have you felt sure about something before knowing the details? How did you know it was right? Was it right?

  14. In chapter 17, after being conned by the thief, Henrietta counts her choices and finds she has few. She chooses to flee rather than face the humiliation of her actions. What situation have you experienced where you fled? Was it the right decision? Or did it eventually lead back to facing the problem head-on?

  15. In chapter 17, the partners have no funds coming in and need money by the next day. All they can do is pray that God will provide. Name a time in your life when you were in dire need, you prayed, and God provided for you.

  16. In chapter 18, Sean says, “Life is a grand puzzle, with pieces interlocking, pieces elusive, pieces missing. But in the end, God puts it all together and we see the full picture.” How have you found this to be true in your own life?

  17. In chapter 18, Annie and Sean discuss how God answered their prayer for money to fund the shop, yet He doesn’t answer everyone’s prayers so happily—or quickly. Why do you think God allows suffering? And why does He often make us wait?

  18. In chapter 19, things are going well and Annie says they are lucky. Sean says, “God does not deal with luck but with blessings.” Do you agree with that statement?

  19. In chapter 19, after Maude is rude to Antonio, her mother wants her to keep the door open to love, saying that God has a plan for her. Maude thinks her mother is naive, that her optimistic faith is a fantasy. Who is right?

  20. In chapter 20, Henrietta helps Annie see that although their lives are far different than they planned them to be, they are better because they’ve let God lead. How has God made your plans better?

  21. In chapter 23, Maude finally tells Antonio about the rape and they discuss the crises they have each suffered, and their subsequent anger. Antonio says God understands our anger and waits for us to realize He is right where we left Him. “We move away, He doesn’t.” Name a time you were angry at God. How did you find Him again?

  22. In chapter 23, Annie gives a toast at Delmonico’s where she remembers Sean saying he wants to know why he was born, why he exists now—not a hundred years from now. Why do you think you live now? What is your unique purpose?

  23. In chapter 24 Annie thinks about her father, who always blamed someone else for his problems. He was always the victim. Do you know someone like that? How do you deal with them?

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Nancy Moser is an award-winning author of thirty novels that share a common message: we each have a unique purpose—the trick is to find out what it is. Her genres include contemporary and historical novels including Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice finalist, The Pattern Artist; Love of the Summer fields; Mozart’s Sister; The Invitation; Booklist’s award-winning An Unlikely Suitor; The Sister Circle; and the Christy Award-winning Time Lottery. She is a fan of anything antique—humans included. www.nancymoser.com.

  Here’s an excerpt from “Pin’s Promise” by Nancy Moser in the novella anthology Christmas Stitches releasing October 2018:

  Annie Wood grabbed her little brother’s arm and ducked behind the pile of cut logs.

  And just in time too, as their mother stepped out of their shack in the Summerfield woods. “Annie! Alfred! If yer not back here in one-two-three yer in fer it!”

  Alfie giggled. “I got out.”

  “Yes, you did,” Annie whispered.

  “Ma doesn’t like me out.”

  “No, she doesn’t.”

  Annie sat on the ground, using the logs as a backrest. This would not end well, yet grabbing these few moments of peace kept her sane.

  Alfie picked up a stray stick and slapped it against his club foot. “Bad, Alfie. Bad. Bad.”

  Annie took it away from him. “Stop that.”

  He mimicked Ma’s voice. “You no-good idgit!” He looked at Annie. “I got out. Ma’s goin’ to wail on us.”

  “She’ll wail on us either way. When Pa’s under-it, she takes it out on us. Remember the trickle-down.”

  He nodded. “Trickle down, trickle down. Slap, slap. Ouch, ouch.” He touched his left arm that Ma had twisted because he’d stumbled against a chair, causing it to fall and wake their father.

  Nobody wanted Rufus Wood awake more than necessary, though Annie had a hard time noting any time that was necessary for her father to be awake. He worked little, always finding some reason to quit a job or getting let-go for pilfering or laziness. Work and Pa sat together like a bottom on a sharp rock. Yet when he did venture out in public,
he always smiled and bemoaned a sickly nature, often getting people to give him a coin or two. If it weren’t for the money he made selling moonshine from his still in the woods, the family would totally depend on Annie’s money, earned selling eggs. Actually, she was the main source of income as Pa usually drank more than he sold.

  The only time there was peace in the house was when he passed out. Yet that was the calm before the storm. He was an angry bear when he drank and a crazed bear when he was awakened after sleeping it off, moaning about his head hurting and wanting the rest of them to shut it and leave him alone.

  Leaving Pa alone was Annie’s preference. And not just a preference but the best way to avoid getting hurt.

  She glanced at ten-year-old Alfie as he stacked small pieces of bark into a tower. He took up a twig like a tiny sword. “Poke, poke, poke!”

  “No poking right now. We must be quiet.”

  Suddenly Ma appeared from behind the woodpile and smacked each one on a leg. “There you are, you dossers! Get inside or I’ll sic yer father on ya.” She reached for Alfie’s sore arm, but Annie stepped between them and took a slap to the side of her head for her trouble.

  Alfie skipped back to the house, singing a fa-la-la song Annie had taught him. She rushed after him. If he annoyed Pa…

  Long ago she’d taken on the role of his protector. Somehow saving one of them from extra hurt and harm made her own pain easier to bear.

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