Chapter 215
Chapter 215
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: 이세계 의복 디자이너가 되었다 215화
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: Designing Children's Clothes
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Speaking honestly, I figured once the rumors about what I'd received this time started circulating among the nobles, things would ignite fiercely.
And they did blaze up hot.
The reason was a little different from what I'd expected, but it was burning very fiercely indeed.
The utterly pragmatic argument went: the Imperial Princess has a tutor, so why don't the Crown Princess and the Emperor have one?
As the adage goes, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." The quick-on-the-uptake nobles realized they couldn't oppose the Emperor, so in a bid to join his ranks, they set out to create two positions of supreme honor—albeit with almost no real power.
Especially the nobles who had lost their influence and become dusty old has-beens in the back rooms—they reacted with particular fervor.
Having lost their say, they waged a desperate battle just to snag a fancy title to wear on their heads. Thanks to that, my brother—now playing leader of the Emperor's faction—was running himself ragged, trying to secure a spot for the elders.
Truly a tragic affair, but none of my business.
It's something His Majesty the Emperor brought on himself—not my fault, right?
Besides, with a new busy season just around the corner, I was about to get swamped and had no spare bandwidth to fuss over my brother.
Peak season as summer approaches? Anyone else hearing that would call me insane.
In noble society, miss wedding season and event season, and the rest qualifies as "downtime"—peaceful enough to call it a vacation.
The Empire's summers have few major events, so no rush to whip up dresses on the fly.
Those whose figures change drastically—like pregnant women—have no choice, but even they usually just make alterations.
Thus, summer is off-season, not peak.
Heck, winter sells more clothes than summer, despite fewer events and outings.
Winter keeps orders steady with its variety, and thick garments command higher prices.
So why call it peak season? Ironically, because I missed wedding season.
No one else can take commissions for summer clothes or casual light dresses right now but me.
You might wonder how that squares with my earlier point about no rush on dresses.
But do you know the one case where a figure changes rapidly—like pregnancy—but alterations won't cut it?
"Our daughter needs a dress for the summer."
"How old is she?"
"Five."
Children.
Precisely, infants and toddlers sprouting 10 cm every six months, or teens hitting puberty with bodies transforming overnight in a year or two.
For us—who'd only dabbled in undergarments despite branching into dresses—this was a very welcome commission.
A dress is a dress, even for kids. Nail them in their boy/girl phase, and you've got customers for life.
"Hmm..."
The problem? Personally, it wasn't all that thrilling for me.
I just don't know kids' clothes all that well.
My childhood here was spent holed up in my room, so aside from formal banquet wear, I'm clueless.
Hayes...
Let's skip Hayes. I've never seen that girl in one intact dress.
She's such a tomboy, ripping through them like tissue—even as a noble, she resorted to hand-me-downs from Aunt Dorothy and Evelyn.
Pulling outfits from my past life? The only kids' dresses I know are Disney ones.
Or magical girl getups...
I could trot them out, but I'm not sure they'd land here.
Magical girl outfits draw heavy from European dresses, so the vibe isn't alien—but they're loaded with modern twists.
Plus, the shows I watched weren't exactly wholesome, which makes me even warier.
If I had to do kids' clothes, I'd rather make infant wear. That's easier on the conscience.
Infant outfits are just swaddling cloths or starfish variants—no real thinking required.
Bundle the baby snug and top with cute animal motifs, and everyone melts. That's infant fashion.
"We're new to children's clothes, so it's hard to say outright whether we can or can't."
Anyway, prime commission or not, I laid some groundwork by voicing mild concerns.
"Does that mean you can't?"
"For now, give us a week. Our tailors will sketch some solid designs to show you, and then you can decide."
"Hmm. Very well."
And just like that, I bought some time.
I'm a total noob at kids' clothes, but my staff might surprise me.
Give our smart crew a week to mull it over—they'll nail it.
_
"We need to make a non-formal dress for a five-year-old girl. What do we do?"
"Can't you just do it like usual?"
"It shouldn't be hard. Strip some adult decorations, tweak the ties for easy on-and-off, and done."
"...?"
Less than thirty minutes later, I had to scrap that line of thinking.
"Ah..."
It's not like I'd never seen kids' clothes just because I stay cooped up.
There simply wasn't a distinct genre worth calling "kids' clothes."
My memories from a decade ago must've gotten warped.
It won't be identical to adult wear, but the idea of just branching off from it rubbed me the wrong way.
Kids' clothes need a touch more dreams and hope—something slightly embarrassing for grown-ups to wear.
By the "if auntie/uncle" test—"Could you picture Uncle or Auntie in that?"—it should spark a vehement "Uncle, Auntie, that's hideous—knock it off!"
That's kids' clothes.
But just do it the usual way?
Roughly adapt adult stuff?
Unacceptable.
With a frosty glare, I swept my gaze over the staff and dropped one line.
"I, William, am disappointed in you all."
"Pardon?"
"Uh..."
"Here he goes again."
Of course, it didn't faze or terrify them, but those were my heartfelt words nonetheless.
I didn't raise my staff to be so dry and creativity-starved.
"Sloppy designs just because it's kids' clothes? No way."
"Aren't the adult designs the result of sincere effort?"
"We adapt them for kids too—hard to call that 'sloppy.'"
"No, it is sloppy."
I firmly shot down my staff's conservative challenge to the creative spirit and jabbed a finger at Elizabeth, who was perched right beside me.
"Look. Most adult clothes emphasize maturity, elegance, or old-world grandeur. But kids? They're all about fresh, bubbly, vivacious energy. Adult clothes are the polar opposite."
Of course, adult clothes occasionally pull off that fresh, bubbly vibe too.
Last year's Hayes nailed it—but that's not mainstream.
Ratio-wise? About 80-20.
Noble girls' endgame is becoming noble ladies, so when you factor in the poise and standards that entails, it's par for the course.
Elegance and maturity define the ideal lady, so everyone's gunning for that.
Hayes being such a tomboy kept folks from harping on her. Had she been even a smidge more demure, they'd have nagged her silly.
Just look—no one batted an eye when I stepped up post her growth spurt to fine-tune her style, now that she looked elegant and mature.
"Kids' clothes have to capture that fresh, cute, bubbly essence. If not now, when can we ever live that?"
"Hmm... Yeah, that tracks."
"Come to think of it, as a kid, I craved stuff that was prettier, brighter, cuter too—Mother's tastes blocked me, though."
Panny Lady and Herbert Young Lord nodded thoughtfully, as if getting it.
Still a bit skeptical, but they'd come around some.
"Not me."
"You're elegant down to your bloodline. No absolutes in this world—dignified exceptions can crop up from childhood."
Elizabeth lobbed a prickly remark, but I swiftly boxed it as a "special case," shielding Panny Lady and Herbert Young Lord from any weird influences.
"If you want a truly childlike design, got any ideas in mind?"
"Still fuzzy on that. I'm brainstorming, but nothing's clicking yet."
"We just heard your pitch—no lightning bolts here..."
No ideas yet, but at least the wheels were turning. Better than nothing.
Put in the time, and something would emerge.
"So, how about everyone sketches a promising design by Friday? That's four days, counting today."
"Hmm... No clue what'll come of it, but I'll give it a shot."
"Tight timeline, but we'll max it out."
"Hmm~ Fine, no harm in mulling it over."
Thankfully, they took to brainstorming without much fuss.
"If it flops, we can always fall back on the usual like we first said. No pressure."
"And yet you'll hustle harder than anyone, right?"
One line to ease my dutiful staff's nerves, and Herbert Young Lord tossed back a half-joking, half-serious quip with a smirk.
"Naturally."
Flashing a touch of arrogance at him, I shrugged, then swept my gaze over the team as if to ask, "Anything else?"
"Tailors, that's your marching orders. Everyone else—if a good idea hits, spit it out freely. Variety's the spice."
"Yep."
"Sure~"
A quick word even to the non-designers, then I gestured for them to head back to their stations and get to work.
"Hmm..."
As I watched them file back to their seats quietly, I plunged straight into my own pondering.
So... what kind of outfit would work best? ```