The Wrap-Around : Dec 01, 2007
From FiranMUX
Garmon sits behind the counter with a large basket of clothing piling over the side. He smiles up as a woman walks in and nods his head, "Well, hello there, Mes." He stands and moves from behind the counter, "I hope that you are Mes Shade, do come in. I am Mer Garmon Verber." He moves to take a stool out from behind the counter and moves it for her to sit on. "Mes Amiana, please clear this mess for the the Mes." He smiles and says, "Please, make yourself comfortable."
Shade's entrance is tentative, hesitance marking each footstep and shyness her gaze. She wears her palla as if a veil for prayer, but once Garmon greets her, she lets it fall in more customary fashion. "Hi, Mer Verber," she says, as she glances from tailor to shopkeeper and then back. "Thank you for having me. I am -- yes, I am Mes Shade."
Garmon smiles and says, "Well, do come in, Mes. Please make yourself comfortable." He watches as Amiana moves to clear the remnants of clothing pieces and old cloth. "I am always happy to meet with a new customer. Of course, with as busy as I am, wedding season and all." He chuckles and waves a hand of dismiss, "However, please why don't you first start by telling me what it is you are looking for Mes and we will work from there." He rummages through the underside of the counter, pulling out ropes, and scrolls, and quills, though his green eyes never leave the woman.
Shade takes a seat at one of the couches, perching at the very edge of it as a bird might. She folds her hands in her lap, though, and sits very straight and proper. "I'm not sure, I guess," she admits, as she draws her curls over one shoulder. "Something pretty? ...Something that makes me look beter than I do. Something that flatters."
Garmon puts the last of his clothing in the basket and sets it off to the side while he listens nonetheless to Shade's ideas. He arches a brow and says, "Now, I don't think it should be hard to flatter someone that already has a fabulous beauty." He chuckles a bit and adds, "So you don't so much know what you want, as you know it needs to be pretty." He points to the sign on the wall and says, "All things that come from this shop will be pretty and will most definitely flatter. Even someone who doesn't seem to need much to be flattering." The older man comes around the front of the counter and pulls with him different colored swatches of wool, "You wanted wool, correct, perhaps you can tell me which color you like the best, Mes."
Shade glances edgewise as Garmon address her, unable or else unwilling to make eye contact. "I have no favorite color," she says, looking down at her knees, and then her feet, and then the floor. "I am amenable to whichever color you think would suit." For her part, she hasn't much color about her -- her eyes and skin and hair seemingly blanched out. "But, yes, definitely wool."
Garmon moves to the door as a messenger makes to be quite persistant. "Do forgive me Mes." He pokes his head out the door and whispers something about being with a customer and when he hears who it is from, a frown comes over his face, "Oh, its a young charge of mine, do you mind if she comes to the shop and watches. She seems to need to talk to me." He seems quite worried about that but nonetheless listens to what Shade has to say. He gets ready to say something else when another messenger comes right to the door. He furrows his brow again and reaches up to bring more colors, raising them to just about her cheek level, "Black is very pretty on you, perhaps a dark blue. Not navy, as you aren't in mourning, but a more sapphire in tone." He drops the swatch a moment and says, "Please excuse me a moment."
Garmon goes outside to deal with child stuffs. Comes back in with Aziza.
Aziza says "ButI dont sew so if the person gets stabbed it aint my fault."
Shade does not seem to have moved in Garmon's absence; she sits, instead, as a statue might, terribly calm and terribly still. For lack of anything to say or anyone to address, she has simply fallen silent, and her gaze is a distant one. The gaze of someone whose thoughts have drifted elsewhere. She glances sideways at Garmon and Aziza but says nothing, allowing them their relative privacy.
Garmon comes back into the shop with a child and smiles at Aziza at her last comment, "You won't be sewing anything. I just need you to hold the wool swatches for me." He gives Shade a small smile, "I do apologize Mes. This is Aziza. She has been staying with me for a few days. I hope you don't mind if she joins us." He picks up the swatches and says, "Now, where were we? Oh yes." He moves to put a stool down for Aziza, "I think that sapphire tones would look nice on you, even a deep turquoise. Nothing to pale, Mes, or your color gets all washed out." He demonstrates with a pale blue and then a soft chicken yellow.
Aziza sits down onthe stool and holds on to the pieces of cloth. Just watching wordlessly, the whole 'lost' sensation not even hinted at being hidden on her youthful features.
"I don't mind," Shade says, and she waves at Aziza with a slight wiggle of her fingers. She tries her very best to concentrate on the color swatches Garmon lays out, but try as she might to hide it, she looks indifferent to each. "I'm not sure..." she admits, after a time. "I already have some turquoise, and I think something blue -- or close to it, perhaps black. I trust your judgment, though." She pauses, and then adds, "...Color? I am not sure I have any to begin with."
Garmon chuckles at Shade's comment and says, "You have beautiful skin and we don't wish for any colors that you wear to wash that color out. You need to look absolutely fabulous when you walk out of here in a new outfit." The man smiles at her and says, "So you have no color choices, perhaps you might have a theme in mind, or perhaps you just wish to match overlay with underlay and call it a day." he waves a hand as he starts flying terms around. From there he says, "If you could Mes, let's get your measurements." He looks to Aziza, "Young Aziza, do you know how to write? Do you know your numbers?"
Aziza nods her head, "Yes Uncle Garmon." She says dutifully.
Shade rises from the couch, the skirts of her stola falling in crisp black folds about her legs. She stands very tall for a Firan mes, but looks down as if the fact embarrasses her. "I don't tend to wear themes," she says. "I like colors and designs, but I'm indifferent to most embroidery." How she dresses herself in the morning is itself a miracle. "I don't think I've ever been measured," she adds, far fainter.
Aziza looks up at Shade and doesn't seem to mind the height at all. Just tucking a foot under her on the stool as she waits for Garmon's instructions. Something wriggling inside her byrrus hood peeks a head uot and a lil furry nose wriggles.
Garmon nods his head towards Aziza and says, "Well, that's good." He moves the scroll and quill to her side and says, "Can you write down the measurements for me?" He doesn't seem at all taken aback by the woman's height and explains to her, "Well we will measure your height, from here to here." He motions to her neck and to her ankles. "And then around. Here. Here. And here." he motions to her shoulders and her chest and her hips. He smiles and says, "Its a fairly painless proceedure." He unravels his knotted rope and starts towards the woman, putting the end of the rope to the side of her neck, gently letting the knots fall to the ground. He counts them.
Aziza unrolls the scroll and then a piece of charcoal stick she always keeps in her pouch. Setting a pair of hairpins on her lap as she then watches Garmon and starts writing down the different places he mentioned.
Shade does her best to stand very still, but flinches every now and then as Garmon performs the measurements. Still -- if the curious look in her eyes is any indication -- she finds the process intriguing, and takes care in watching it. "It does not hurt," she agrees, after a time. Way to take 'painless' literally.
Garmon chuckles and says, "Well, I do like to make that fact known, as it seems that some of the children who come in, seem to think I will tie them up." he shakes his head and says, "If you can put your arms real close to your sides for me, Mes, we will get your shoulders. We want to make sure the neckline is going to fit correctly when I cut it." he smiles and starts to wrap the rope from one shoulder, around her back and back again. Creating a circle around her, loose, but not loose enough to make it large on her. He nods and gives those measurements to Aziza to write down.
Shade presses her arms against either side, doing as directed. Formality -- in contrast with her coloring -- renders her clan of origin somewhat obscure. "How will the neckline look?" she asks, following the rope as Garmon makes a circle with it. "...That is, um, what will it show?" She fights a blush, but it insists on tinging her cheeks just the same. "The trouble is, as much as I would like to look proper, I can't look /too/ proper without being at odds in my neighborhood."
Garmon nods his head and says, "Well, that is understandable of most women. I know that most would like to be able to fit into their surroundings without losing too much of the elegance they know." He gives the woman a soft look before he reaches to where her neckline is already and says, "I think we can bring it down some but make it scoop up in layers, so as to give the illusion of a longer neck without actually showing anything indecent." He motions her very gently to raise her arms and smiles, "I need to do the middle here, and we will be almost finished." He wraps that rope around her chest, careful not to touch improper areas, and keeps his fingers at the side of her body, not the front, nodding the Aziza when he counts the knots. "Are you wishing Mes to have this type of waist line..?" He asks of Shade when he indicates the cloth under her bosom.
Aziza just keeps writing down what Garmon tells her to. Her expression one of sorta paying attention, but seeming to have her mind on something else at the same time.
For a moment, Shade regards Garmon somewhat skeptically. She says, "Between elegance and survival, I find myself having to choose the clothing that won't get me kidnapped and beaten." She lifts her arms when Garmon asks it of her, and loses her balance as she does so; she regains it a second later, if she looks somewhat frazzled. "The waist line ... um, well, what sort of waist line do you think would be best? I've tried many different styles."
Garmon measures the chest area and gives the count to Aziza with an encouraging smile, perhaps to let her know he hasn't forgotten her. He turns back to Shade for a moment, taking in the stola at the waist, just above her hips and allowing the torso to flutter and the skirt to flutter, "I think that seems to make you seem the most in balance." He doesn't really blink an eye as she loses balance, as if not to embarress her. He wraps the rope around her waist and says, "But we can make the line higher, to create a more whimsical feel, though with the neckline the way we have discussed, it might look bunched up here." He points to her chest area and says, "I don't know if that will help your surroundings situation." Perhaps hinting towards the fact that it might just make her breasts look larger.
Decisions, decisions. Shade makes eye contact with Garmon and though she holds it only briefly, there is something deeply imploring in her gaze. "Just ... I don't know," she says, before looking away again. "I trust your judgment, I really do. I want something pretty, without being too elegant; I want something that flatters, without ... overly accentuating ... certain features. And I want to be able to blend into an Old City neighborhood without my clothing being in tatters." Choosy, isn't she. She draws a deep breath after.
Garmon chuckles at her answer and says, "Well, then I have a design that will be all of those things. I don't think you will be disappointed." He finishes his last measurement and says, "Now, there is one thing left, I assume that you wish to have boots made with these, as its probably not practical to wear sandals in the Old City." He gives her an inquiring look and says, "And with the winter approaching, wool looks best with boots." he gives the obvious, though he is never sure who will tell him something quirky they want. "Are there any other accessories that you wish to have included with the outfit, Mes?"
The final measurement taken, Shade retreats back to a couch, sitting with slightly less particular posture this time. "I guess what I'm thinking is something more exotic than traditional, and I don't mean exotic necessarily in a 'that mes is a whore' sort of way but in a foreign way instead. It doesn't stand out as much." When she smiles, it is such an unabashedly trusting smile, as if she has given all her cares over to Garmon. "Boots," she agrees, with a nod. "I can't think of any accessories offhand."
Garmon smiles and looks to the door when a messenger knocks again. "Excuse me again." he nods his head through the crack in the door and sends the boy along. Coming back to the room he smiles again and says, "Well, Mes, I think that perhaps we can work with the elements of something more modern than traditional. Perhaps something that wraps around you." he thinks about this, "I saw this once in a fashion along another city, where the stola actually wraps around your body instead of pulling down and cinching here." he points to the waist. He moves to pull a large piece of wool from a rack and demonstrates, taking the it lengthwise and wrapping it about himself in an angle. "But we will take up the neckline, so that there is more class to the edges here." He motions, a man in a 'stola' almost as he does so, "And then of course, accent the colors with a tie at the side instead of the back, woven into the fabric, as to make sure it doesn't come loose."
Shade all but stares at Garmon as he gives the demonstration; still, her gaze is somewhat unfocused, as if she is envisioning something else entirely. When Garmon has finished wrapping the wool about himself, she giggles, the sound a light and maidenly one. Hastily, she apologizes, "Oh -- I'm sorry -- I mean, yes, that's a good idea. I'm sorry." Gods forbid she take amusement in something.
Aziza on the other hand has age on her side. Bursting out in a fit of giggles as she finally looks to Garmon and his 'demonstration'. Practically falling off the stool.
Garmon chuckles and untangles himself from the wool. He lays it out on the counter and shakes his head, "Oh, no, its a silly sight I know. I do wish perhaps I had one of those doll type things that you can demonstrate on. Instead, I use myself." He looks towards Aziza and reaches over to put an arm around her shoulders. "I am glad to see you smile." He murmurs softly. He looks to Shade and says, "I wonder, perhaps I will make the stola and then call you in to try it on, then we can see if its something that suits you, before we make it a concrete idea?"
Shade lifts one hand to pat at her hairpins, to make certain they're still in place -- which of course they are, but her restless fidgeting doesn't help things any, and one pin tilts somewhat askew amidst her curls. "That sounds fine, Mer Verber," she says. "Anything I can do to help facilitate the process, I am of course willing to do. I understand how busy you must be."
Garmon shakes his head and says, "No, not at all. I will get started on the cutting of the fabric. I have a few commissions on the list above yours, I am sure you understand, but we will definitely get you in something fabulous in no time." he gives Aziza a smile and then looks to Shade, "Do you have any questions for me, any concerns?"
Aziza manages to stop her giggles, but only just. Every time she looks at the rack with the pieces of cloth she looks like she's fighting not to giggle.
Shade stands somewhat awkwardly, clumsiness disguised only by the flowing skirts of her stola. "Thank you, Mer Verber," she says, such sincere gratitude marking her voice. "Will you be making a byrrus with the outfit? With a hood, maybe fringed with fur ... it sounds so ..." She trails off, as if uncertain to decide what it sounds like. She shrugs instead.
Garmon chuckles and walks with Shade to the door, "Well,I will most definitely make you whatever you wish. A hood with fringed fur. I can certainly do that, and you will look most fabulous in it." he smiles at her giving her an encouraging nod and says, "If you have other questions, you just message me or come on by. Its always good to get new customers."
Shade curtseys to Garmon, waves to Aziza, and says, "Thank you both, very much." And with that, off she goes.
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