Grantville Gazette, Volume 40 by Paula Goodlett, edited by Paula Goodlett Page A

bought a garment made of cloth that had an ornate pattern printed-in. Stephanie showed Tilda the cloth design called "paisley," known down-time as India Teardrops, and Tilda's brain melted at the thought of embroidering that.
    ****
    Stephanie, meanwhile, had grabbed a "t-shirt" that had six flags printed on it, and now was holding it against Tilda. Stephanie said, "Here, try this on, I think it'll look good with your skin color."
    Tilda looked at the price-paper and gasped. "I can't afford this."
    "Tilda, liebchen , shopping isn't about trying on only what you can afford. It's about two women doing something together they enjoy. Over there's the dressing room." When Tilda still hesitated, Stephanie said, "Please?"
    Ten minutes later, Tilda stepped out of the dressing room. When she saw Stephanie, she laughed. "It's squeezing me! Not hard, but it's squeezing me. Especially at . . ."
    Two young men also had realized where the t-shirt was squeezing Tilda. She quit talking and started blushing.
    Stephanie guided Tilda over to a mirror. What a strange image she made, Tilda thought, with a down-time German skirt and an up-time t-shirt. Willi would smile if he saw me now, she thought.
    Tilda said to Stephanie, "You chose well. This pink color flatters my skin."
    Stephanie smiled.
    When Tilda came out of the dressing room, Stephanie was waiting with a pair of flower-print pants. "I think these will fit you. Try them on."
    Stephanie was wrong: The pants were too big in the seat and the legs were too long. But Tilda loved how one button and a zipper let her fasten the pants in only seconds.
    After Stephanie had taken a look at the flower-pants, Tilda changed back into her own clothes. Then she told the up-timer, "Now it's your turn."
    Tilda frog-marched Stephanie back to the "Down-time clothing" section.
    They wound up dressing Stephanie in a calf-length down-time skirt. Except that on long-legged Stephanie, the skirt wasn't calf-length at all.
    Meanwhile, with the down-time skirt, Stephanie had walked from the dressing room wearing a fat man's t-shirt in white. Besides the shirt being way too big to fit well, the white t-shirt clashed with the off-white of the down-time skirt.
    "I think the skirt shrank in the wash," Stephanie said, deadpan.
    Tilda couldn't help it: She started laughing at how ridiculous Stephanie looked. But rather than get angry or offended, Stephanie walked around the store, letting every down-timer see for him- or herself what Tilda found so funny.
    A few minutes later, after Stephanie had changed back into her own clothes, she asked Tilda, "Isn't this enjoyable?"
    "Oh, it is, it is," Tilda said. "I could do this with you all day." Tilda laughed; "Especially if I had the money to spend."
    ****
    Tilda realized what she'd just said.
    How fun would it be for Tilda, a woman not rich, if she could buy clothing of different weights, colors, and moods, as easily as walking through an orchard picking apples? Along with her girlfriends, everyone in the group doing the same thing?
    Going to the dressmaker with your girlfriends didn't come close.
    Once down-time women get a taste of shopping for clothes like this, they won't be able to walk away, Tilda realized.
    Tilda gestured toward the up-time clothing and said to Stephanie, "Sometime soon, someone will bring back ready-to-wear, but made for German women. That 'someone' will get rich."
    "Don't forget up-time women," Stephanie said.
    Then Stephanie smiled at Tilda. "Are you proposing a partnership, liebchen ? What a great idea!"
    "Huh? What?"
    Stephanie was grinning now. "You know what down-time women like to wear, and I know up-time women. You know more about running a sewing business, while I have a good sense of color and design."
    "That's all true, but what—?"
    "You and I will make a bundle, and make our sisters look good along the way."
    Tilda was flabbergasted. "You and I make ready-to-wear? I didn't mean us doing . . ."
    Then Tilda realized, Stephanie is right. I