Style of the Day

by **Palla Frostfawn** on April 13th, 2014, 5:01 pm

19th of Spring, 514 AV
I really need some new clothes. The dress I bought at the bazaar is of poor quality, and I only have one outfit as of now. I've heard of the shop called Red Diamond Fashions, the people who were talking about it seemed to be finely dressed, and said the owner had a good fashion sense. I didn't pay much attention to the main shop when I last came, to see Orabelle, I just saw Orabelle's shop. Anyways, I'll go see Rosela... Is that her name? Palla needed to walk her dogs after work, but figured one day of taking them out later wouldn't kill them. Besides, buying something wouldn't take too long... Would it?

After a short debate with herself, Palla decided to go to the shop. She didn't have that much money, as most of her income was put towards paying off her debt, but could still afford a high standard of living, one good enough that she would probably be expected to have better clothes than she did. After all, the owner of a shop would be expected to look presentable. While Palla wasn't still as worried about her shop failing, and was a bit more optimistic about the future of her shop, she still didn't want anything to affect her income.

Palla patted her dogs and set off for Rosela's shop, the same shop where Orabelle worked. I'll take Midnight and Purity to the park later. I'm glad they have each other for company, and that I can at least spend time with them on my off days. Oh, well. Today's not one of those days. Palla wore her brown shirt and simple black pants. They looked okay on her, but they were very plain.

As she walked, Palla wondered if she should have worn something nicer. She was there for clothes, but wondered how the owner would react to her clothing. I probably should have worn something nicer... The owner should probably know that I came here because I needed new clothes, though, so she shouldn't be mad... Hah! I should quit worrying, why would anyone be outraged about my clothes being simple? Still... Palla fretted about her clothing, but eventually banished the thoughts to the back of her mind, soon trying to enjoy the fresh air instead.

Palla soon had stopped worrying about what she wore, something that would have bothered her more last season, probably to the point of her going back and changing. She had, after all, just left her house.The articles she was wearing were of good quality, but were starting to experience the effects of wear, as that's pretty much all Palla wore. She did have the dress that she bought at the bazaar, though. It was in okay shape but probably should have been in a better state, considering Palla only wore it once.

by **Rosela** on April 22nd, 2014, 8:07 pm

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Leather.

Leather, leather, leather.

With Reven around and chomping at the bit to work with leather, Rosela was designing far more extensively than she used to with the material. It was her day to man the desk, and while a customer chatted amiably with Orabelle over in the makeup section, Rosela kept to herself and worked on more designs. Turned half to the side so she could comfortably cross her legs, she bounced one foot absently, causing the ends of her double layered, floral-patterned dress to flutter. It was strapless, causing her to continually mind her posture, but she was overjoyed to finally be out of the confining sleeves of her winter dresses.

The inventory on the docket for the day was men’s vests, something that easily required a lot of leather. She had some interesting plans for it, primarily regarding imprints. Two leather-bound books were hidden on a shelf under her desk, taken from the zoology section on the Sea of Grass in the library. She hadn’t read them, only skimmed through to make sure they had a lot of pictures. Once she had an imprint design in place, hopefuylly of some fierce creature the Akalaks liked to kill, she could easily have Reven add it to the backs of vests and various other items.

On the paper in front of her, she had already sketched the outlines of several headless male torsos, arms bent to put their hands on what would be their hips. Starting with the leftmost torso, she began with the usual lines: arcs across the shoulders for the arm holes, a long ‘Y’ across the chest for the front, and a pair of arcs across the bottom for the bottom edge of the vest. She wanted a dramatic flair with this one, so she added shoulder pads at the ends of the shoulders, curving the line of the shoulder up with two darker pencil lines. Inside the vest area, a discreet outline of the bottom of the pad was added to remind herself of where the pad would end.

Around the arm holes would be the boldest piece of the vest – fur trim. Taking her darker pencil, she added fluttering strokes back and forth across the arms, indicating a trim of fluffy, dark fur. To the side, she added an additional thought in Arumenic – ‘Bear?’

Hearing the door open, Rosela quietly cleared her throat and quickly stored the paper and pencil away under the desk. She didn’t like customers seeing unfinished work; quality control was needed even for designs, and she didn’t want to be judged on a design she might not even make. By the time her newest customer was inside she shop, Rosela had firmly affixed her ‘pleasant-but-professional’ mask and called out her usual greeting, ”Hi, welcome to Red Diamond Fashions. I’m Rosela, just let me know if you need any help finding anything.”

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by **Palla Frostfawn** on April 23rd, 2014, 8:24 pm

When the woman welcomed her to her shop, Palla was relieved. "Y-Yes," Palla paused and stared at the woman for a split second, then quickly looked back to the ground. She hoped Rosela, as the woman introduced herself, wouldn't notice, but her movements weren't that discrete, so a keen observer would notice it.

Six arms? Nobody has six arms! Do they? Maybe they're a race, like the Vantha. The six armed people. Vantha have eyes that stand out, not whole extra limbs, though. Who knows? Well, Rosela probably knows, but still, I should probably keep my mouth shut. Maybe I'll ask her later, but I hardly know her.

Hah! Hardly know her! I know her name, but that's it. How can I say I even hardly know her? Palla's thoughts drifted. Imagine what I could do with six arms! I could get carvings done three times as fast! That would be good for business.

After a tick, Palla realized that she had gone silent. "O-Oh, sorry. I-I got distracted there for a moment." Palla, looking at the ground, continued. "I-I really don't know what to buy. My fashion sense isn't the greatest. I-I like purple, but I'm open to anything." In a voice so quiet you would have to strain to hear it, Palla mumbled "S-Something that would make me look curvier?"

Palla thought for a moment, considering what to say next, and then said "I-I'd like something very nice for special occasions, but a-also some practical clothing. Y-You see, I'm a woodcarver. I-I'd like to look nice for my customers, but would a-also need something practical, i-in case I spill wood dust on it or acidentially put a hole in it."

Palla looked around the shop and took in everything. The clothing was beautiful for the women, and tasteful but functional for the men. The shop was set up so everything looked as if it had a place. The building was also bigger than Palla's shop, and Palla was green with envy. If only my carving shop was this big, this organized, this successful. I envy Rosela, not just because her six arms would be useful, but because she has all this.

Wealth can't be measured in money, though. Can it? What about happiness? What about love? I guess I should be content to be Palla, the stammering Vantha. At least I have a comfortable life, and many more aquaintances, hopefully friends soon, than I would have ever had in Avanthal. Still, I wish I didn't stammer...

by **Rosela** on June 11th, 2014, 2:40 pm

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Palla’s reaction to Rosela’s arms was one she got fairly often, and had long since stopped being affronted by innocent surprise. However, after the initial awkwardness the silence continued to stretch and Rosela could only glance around the room uneasily as the young woman seemed to lose herself in her thoughts. She came to quickly enough however, and Rosela smiled back, waving a hand to dispel the awkwardness.

”No problem at all. Let’s see, purple and curvy…” Sliding out of her chair, she beckoned the young woman over to the women’s section. Curvy would be difficult, as she didn’t have much figure to work with, but with so many lithe Kontis in the city, it was a challenge Rosela had encountered before. Leaning on a shelf, two pairs of arms folded in front of her, and another flipped her hair back as she looked her newest customer up and down.

”With your figure, you can actually pull off a lot of clothing other women can’t. Like high necklines? Something with ruffles right around the collar? You should be all over those – they’ll really accentuate your bust.” Mentally flipping through her mental dress-book, her hands began to move absently as she talked. ”For bottoms, you can go two ways. With dresses, you’ll want long and fluttery. Something that gives you definition. Empire waists will look great too.” Her hands raised to indicate just below her bust. ”I’m not a huge fan of pants, but if you do wear something slimming like that, belts or any kind of…decoration that sits right over the hips will give you a little extra visual width there.” Realizing she was babbling, she forced herself to stop and conclude with a small smile.

”So…yea. That’s what to look for. So we have the color and general idea… What style were you looking for? Formal? Casual? Nice, but not too nice?” She already had a couple ideas in mind to suggest, as the bulk of her customers were usually interested in casual wear, and maybe a semi-formal party dress. She had only recently put away the winter formalwear from the Ice Masquerade and missed it desperately - the opportunity to go far more elaborate than usual had done her heart good.

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by **Kel Tempest** on August 6th, 2014, 12:17 am

Palla Frostfawn :

Notes :

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by **Matthew** on February 5th, 2015, 3:35 pm

Rosela

Experience Points:

1 Drawing OR 1 Art (Fashion Design)

Lores:

Drawing: Basic Sketching Techniques
Socialization: Handling Awkward Silence

If you have any questions or concerns relevant to your grade, don't be afraid to send me a private message so that we can work it all out! Please remember to mark your Grading Request as Graded.

A shout-out to Ollic Rimesage, who was kind enough to make this template for me.