Eloise absorbed all this a few moments. “So these are not for men?”
Adrienne slowly shook her head.
“They are for women who want to dress as men?”
A single nod.
“Why?”
Adrienne merely waited.
Eloise walked to the nearest dress form and fingered the material, which was some of the softest, most luxurious Superfine wool she had ever touched. She opened the coat and took a closer look at the waistcoat. “You designed these?”
“Yes. I started with some designs from a tailor friend of mine, who has created some magnificent suits for men who are older and, um, puffier in areas younger men usually are not. For the more slender women, like you, I pad the shoulders and alter the shirts and waistcoats so the cut falls looser over the chest. The waist narrows, but has enough give that it disguises the breadth of the hips. There are stays, so that any cloth that falls away from the body does not wrinkle or pull into channels.”
“When did you start doing this?”
Adrienne walked over to one of the forms and ran her hands down the back, examining the stitches. “A few years ago. Two friends of mine requested the first one. They knew I had made a few for my own use. They wanted to go out in public as a couple, and people had begun to whisper about their close friendship.”
Eloise turned to her. “Both were women?”
A single nod. And a look.
Understanding flooded over Eloise, but she still could not quite believe it. But... the outfit she had worn to Campion’shadbeen hanging in Adrienne’s own dressing room, ready to wear. “Are you...?”
Another slow nod.
“Ah.”
Adrienne scowled. “‘Ah’? What does that mean?”
“It means I now understand why you would not marry that earl your parents tried to thrust on you after your first husband died in the war. And how you managed to win a modiste’s shop in a men’s gambling establishment.”
Adrienne’s grin turned mischievous. “Oh, I have won a lot more than that.”
“I have no doubt. So your friends told others?”
“And they told even more.”
Another thought appeared in Eloise’s head. “Wait. Is this the ‘Miscellaneous Notions and Resales” line item in your ledger?” Adrienne nodded and Eloise’s eyebrows arched. “This makes up almost a quarter of your income.”
“It’s especially important in the lean times. I can send word that I am worried about the end of the month and new orders will show up. Once I have a woman’s measurements for a suit, she does not have to be fitted. And these go out in boxes covered over by gowns or lingerie. Once, under a trousseau for a new bride.” Adrienne pulled a bolt of gold brocade from a shelf, then held it up next to Eloise’s face. “This will be perfect for a waistcoat. But I will alter one of these today, so you can have it quickly.” She replaced the bolt. “And for some women, it’s not about sex—it’s about freedom. They can move about at night, go to salons alone, enjoy the museums and theaters without worrying about a chaperone—or being in danger.”
“I can say that wearing trousers was truly astonishing. And I would relish the idea of going to lectures and museums without dragging poor Delie along. I had no idea it would feel so liberating.”
Adrienne chuckled. “Be careful about using that word too freely. People will think you are a follower of Miss Wollstonecraft.”
“Heaven forfend. But I do have one question.”
“Which is?”
“Can you teach me how to tie a cravat?”
*
Monday, 18 July 1825
Ashton House
