2020.09.04:Clothes Maketh the Woman

Clothes Maketh the Woman
A fun scene in Neiman's, where various things emerge, the struggle to choose clothes when in a workplace rife with sexual harassment, the struggle to please guys with very specific taste in clothes, the struggle to conquer one's desires, and the struggle with being desired.
IC Date	September 4th, 2020
IC Time	10a-12:30pm
Players	Dr. Adeline Llyr A little spider Goldie Durand Kameshi 'Kamehemolele' Hemolele Endellion & Lillian 'Lilly' Pickford
Location	Neiman Marcus at Fashion Valley Mall
Prp/Tp	Spontaneous Casual RP
Spheres	Mortal+
Theme Song	[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL4UGSbeFg

Fashion Valley Mall

Goldie and Lilly are tucked away in a Nieman's dressing room. The door is open to the outside for anyone who breezes by. The brunette is sat on a bench with a view of the racks, but Lilly is kinda tucked away where mirrors and her selections are all hanging up.

Lilly is in one of the more upscale shops in the fitting area. She has outfits scattered about her and Goldie is coming in with opinions. "Oh yeah I know." She giggles but it's a bit more subdued that her usual happy tone. "I know it's sort of an all in kinda thing." Deep breath and she brings the smile back to her face. "But it's good. I'm not good at the business side of stuff. Having help there will be HUGE," she replies as she fingers the dress. "I'll try it on. Maybe some kneel high boots?"

Adeline's clearly decided to skip work in favor of shopping, but the way she wanders through the mall suggests she isn't a frequent habituee of these palaces of consumerism. She looks rather overwhelmed, actually. Maybe she gets most of her stuff online. She eventually drifts into a Niemann's and grabs some clothes, seemingly slightly at random, from racks, and heads to the changing rooms seemingly with a goal of finding somewhere to sit down more than anything else, though it is noticeable that the clothes she has chosen are all leaning to the velvet-and-lace Victoriana-influenced vibe. When she spies Goldie and Lilly, she smiles warmly and waves a lace-clad hand. "Hiya chaps!"

Goldie drifts back toward the bench, nodding at what Lilly says, and retakes her seat, plucking her iced-coffee from the floor. 'It will be and don't be worried. I know it's scary, but he won't take advantage.' Grinning then, she adds, 'And yeah, I think boots would be good. It comes in orange and yellow, so if you don't like that color let Roa know and she'll get the other.' She hms, looking over an assortment of boots that are on display in the fitting room. She plucks up a pair and shows them to Lilly. It's in that moment that she hears Adeline come through the door to the dressing room and she turns, arms spreading wide, mostly to hold the iced coffee away from Addy and the clothes draped over her arm, and leans in to embrace her in a light friendly hug, 'Hey, Addy, what a coincidence! How are you?' she beams.

Lilly comes out and shows off the dress, turning in various angles with an excited grin. Something Goldie says makes her laugh but she just follows along to look at the boots. "I think they .. " She pauses as the other woman shows up. For a moment she adopts a look of faux anger, posture shifting to thrust her chest out more. "Chaps." Only briefly can she hold that before relaxing and laughing.

Adeline looks happy at the friendly greetings, and claps in admiration at Lilly's outfit. "That is gorgeous!" She waves an arm of purple crushed velvet at the other two women. "I've come to - get clothes - god, shopping takes serious stamina," she admits. She giggles at Lilly's faux-outrage at the 'chaps' salutation , and confides, "I have a fondness for posh schoolboy slang from 1930s. Brideshead Revisited kinda vibe. Eton and that." This may or may not make sense to her interlocutors. She gives a brief, interested look at the outfits they have hanging up visible. "How are you both today? I won't interrupt though," she offers, more tactfully. "I'll wedge myself into this booth -" gestures at the thing, "-and swear at the unflattering shop lighting a bit." She is clearly prepared for disillusionment.

Lilly strikes a pose and grins again as Adeline comments on the outfit. "Oh that's not my size," she tells Goldie when she offers a boot. "Can you see if they have it?" Eyelashes are batted and she turns to Adeline again. "You would think they'd have something a little more flattering," she replies while looking in the general direction of the light fixtures.

Adeline agrees with Lilly, “Honestly, it would be in their interests to make us look better rather than worse. Unless their genius retail strategy is to inspire us with such frenzy of despair that we just buy everything at random in search of an endorphin rush.” She giggles and casually yanks the curtain across the booth, but not bothering to close it the whole way before she rips her shirt off,. She starts wrestling into the purple gown. Calls out, a bit muffled, “Are you buying for a fun occasion?”

Lilly looking for for awhile then giggles a bit when she looks back down to see a topless woman. A moment of evaluation and she gives you a thumbs up. "Oh ... for fun really," she happily replies. "And to dress for a guy." The last is said in a lower tone as if conveying a secret.

Goldie returns to the padded bench at the entrance to the dressing room, takes another quick sip from her Cinnabon iced coffee and tucks it safely away from moving feet. She looks to Adeline as she disappears behind one of the doors and pshaws, 'You're not interrupting. Its a public dressing room, silly.' A pause, 'Anyway, we can use all the help we can get. Another set of eyes can't hurt. We're picking out stuff for Lilly.' Her smile turns to Lilly, 'Sure, what's your size?' Once the information is traded, the brunette retreats outside and returns, minutes later, with a couple of different boxes which she hands through the door to Lilly. 'I got those in your size and a few others to try with it.

Adeline grins as she glances back out at the other two, her red hair disheveled from all the on-off-clothing. She critically assess the purple top thing, but doesn't seem wildly persuaded, and yanks it off to rummage about for something else. She's not in any hurry to get her clothes back on, anyway. She brightens when she hears Lilly's reply. !"A guy? Oooh," And she returns the thumb's up. "Good luck! I bet you will slay him. And sure -" a beam at Goldie, "*'d love to share my views. And you can help me! I wanna try and look more professional. Try and get people to take me a bit more seriously."

Goldie crosses her legs, drapes her arms over a raised knee, props her chin up with a curled fist and squints quizzically at what Adeline says. 'Aren't you an artist?' she wonders with a smile in her voice. 'I mean, most people expect artists to be whimsical, don't they?'

Lilly grins happily as more shoes are brought. She snaps them up and sits to begin trying them on. After each pair she strides back and forth, stopping at a the mirror to see which heel flatters her behind best. "Great! The more the merrier. What sort of crowd are you trying to fit into?"

Adeline is now wrestling into something that looks quite a lot like wet-look PVC. Muffled again, "I am an artist, it's true, and until now I've been able to wear whatever the fuck I want. But now I am --" she emerges triumphantly from the top of the outfit, red hair wild, "--in also on a scientific project at the university and they patronize the hell out of me, so I'd like to I dunno --" a vague wave of a hand, "have some Corporate Goth executive cred or something." it may be a forlorn hope. "Ooh I like those heels, Lilly."

Lilly holds out one foot to happily show off the heel, grinning at the compliment. She is about to say something about the goth outfit at the university until Adeline adds on the last bit. "Oh," is her only immediate reply as she moves to help the woman fix her hair. "Oh I need to get something for a goth club he wants to take me too."

Kameshi comes in from D St. and Second Ave.

Adeline looks wildly enthusiastic at mention of goth club, leaning out of the changing booth. "Ooh which club?" she asks, keen. "I mean they're all good." She definitely looks more expert on the goth club attire front by comparison with the Professional Scientific Work Attire front. But who knows - maybe wet look PVC is welcome in all contexts.

Lilly is in the changing area of one of the more upscale shops. They all are. What are the odds. "It's ... " The brunette looks stumped and then begins to laugh. "I don't know. I mean I think he told me but ... " Her shoulders rise and fall in a shrug and she laughs. "I tend to light lighter colors. But I'll find something he likes!"

Goldie is sat on a padded bench in the entrance to the fitting room where Lilly and Adeline are trying on clothes. She is kinda reclined, watching, nodding at things she likes, taking a mental note of colors or the way the dress is cut if it flatters her figure.

What does one do when you realize after a move that over 60% of your wardrobe is clothes you haven't worn in a decade and were meant for a teenager or worse a tween you who was a size -1 that only a tiny small but fierce birb could fit into? Give it all away... and GO SHOPPING!!! While Kameshi hasn't completely done the former, getting a head start on the later seems to be the goal of the day. At the moment she is just in the browsing stage, not sure what she is even looking for, let alone what she is going to get. Idly she runs her fingers over the racks, her nails clicking on the hangers and rails, cadencing her movements almost as much as her heels. Seeing the changing rooms are occupied, Kameshi sit on a bench on the opposite side of them from where Goldie is, oblivious to her friend (maybe her best friend in this town?) being just on the other side, idling singing 'When I Grow Up' by the Pussycat Dolls, though not really loud, only little more than a hum, save for she is actually singing the lyrics and not just humming the tune.

Adeline yanks the curtain back from her booth and emerges, glancing at herself critically in the full length mirror. She is wearing a skintight black PVC sleeveless top, with a high neck, kinda dominatrix vibe really, plus a pleather pencil skirt. "I mean," she says dubiously, "I definitely LIKE it, but tell me honestly, darlings -" and she looks candidly at Goldie and Lilly, "do you think this is less or more likely to make the wanker lab tech boys grab my tits when I'm putting on my lab coat?" She awaits their verdict, tugging her lower lip in pensive self-assessment. At the same time, she spies Kameshi, and brightens a bit, recognizing her. "Oh hi! You're the great dancer, who randomly made out with me on a dancefloor." A giggle.

Lilly leans back so she can take in Adeline. "Well I'm sure they'll want to," she replies with a giggle. "But it's ... stern. In a hot sort of way." There is more laughing until she turns to see ... "Oh god! I love your work!" She is literally bouncing with excitement when she spots Kameshi."

Goldie's attention is drawn to KAMESHI who, as per usual, has ALL the attention. Gorgeous, beautiful, beautiful voice, perfection. Grinning, the brunette stays quiet on her perch, 'Hey lady,' she says affectionately to her like best friend who she has no business being best friends with as she is nobody.

Glancing at the women addressing her, Kameshi is sort of thrown for a loop. Random one she made out with... okay, sounds familiar, first month here was a wild roller coaster ride with no brakes and loads of twists and loops, seems to have great taste in fashion, pin in that. Fangirl who loves her work... becoming a more and more common thing, which is great, gorgeous eyes, and sort of familiar looking. Goldie... BKE, BFS, LSIL, and a bunch of other abbreviations with secret meanings. The flurry of excitement catches her off-guard, and she sort of blushes at the attention, "Uh, hi." she finger waves at Goldie, smiling, "Goldie? Care to introduce me to your friends... including the one who I guess I pulled a you on." giggling at the memory of the first impression Goldie made on her.

Adeline's glance takes in Kameshi appreciatively, as surely anyone would, frankly, what with indescribable beauty and all. And she resumes critically assessing her recollection, grins at Lilly. "Stern in a hot sort of way is worth a try. Yeah, I'll go for it." She brightens. "I will report back on if it works. I will try out a few varieties maybe, like - a scientific experiment! What style should I try next, in Operation Take Me Seriously, You Fuckwits?" She seems keen for suggestions. Meanwhile, she shrugs her painted leather jacket back on over the PVC top, assessing how it looks. Admits, "I usually wear this." And looks perkily between Goldie and Kameshi, keen for an introduction.

Goldie leaaans to her side and takes her Cinnabon iced-coffee from the nook where she's hidden it, so it doesn't spill in the dressing room. Lounging on the perch at the end, she points to Lilly, 'This is Lilly. New in town, Dante's prospective new employee, I'm helping dress her because in his words - she looks like Little Bo Peep.' She smirks, shaking her head at Lilly, 'Its the blouse he doesn't like honey. Everything else he loves or he wouldn't have had me reach out.' Having completed her aside, she then turns her attention to Adeline and points with a jangle of ice in her cup, 'This is Adeline, Addy, she is a -- world traveling artist and now assisting at the Science University amazingness who likes kelp and the ocean. Presently trying to find clothing that will make her scientific comrades take her more seriously.' To Kameshi, she beams, 'Addy, Lilly, this is Kameshi. A pain in the ass. Good heart. Very sexy. If you see her naked, you may spontaneously orgasm.'

Lilly looks to Goldie with her enthusiasm dimmed. She glances over at the blouse currently laying cat aside. "Oh ... Little Bo Beep?" She nibbles nervously on her lower lip. "Did he elaborate? Say what he's looking for?"

Goldie, sadly, shakes her head at Lilly's initial question. 'I am only guessing, given he asked me to take you shopping, that he kinda likes how I dress? But the truth he wasn't very specific. I even sent him pictures to get his opinion, but he never responded to any of them.' A shrug, 'So, given he isn't offer any help, then fuck it? Try to find something goth, like he likes, and slinky like you like.'

Having a moment to think, Kameshi appraises Adeline's attire, "If you have a cat o' nine tails or a solid riding crop with you, that would definitely send the message that you are in charge, and groping you is a severely punishable infraction, and it is nicer than saying something like 'Do that again, and you will pull back an acid burned stump, lowly pig dog only worthy of licking the bottoms of my boots'. Most guys respond real well to a woman with a riding crop or lashing weapon." she tilts her head and appraises a bit more, "Nice Lovecraft quote, by the way." Looking over at Lilly, Kameshi smiles, "Dante tell you that he wants you in actual an whale bone corset? If he did, you need to tell him those are now illegal, have been for over a century, no one will make them, they're antiques if you can find one in any condition, and even synthetic whale bone is really hard to come by this side of the Atlantic Ocean, every corseteer in town swears by steel boning." she smiles, "Which I never got around to telling him, when he was considering hiring me and instructed me to get whale bone corsets." she offers a hand to Lilly, "Kameshi Hemolele Endellion. I know, my screen name isn't that huge a change, but going by Kamehemolele online is just Dragon Ballzy enough to make people think it is totally made up to keep most folks from even trying to find out what my real name is, though I expect it will become known soon enough, when people recognize my face on the ads that will be put out and up in the near future. Though you look sort of familiar... I wanna say Yoga, or maybe a fitness magazine?" Blushing, and looking at Goldie, "Oh, yeah, she's seen that a few times. Though I think it embarrasses her, even when we're hanging at my house by the pool on my roof." she sighs, "And it was just one guy that one time, who would Lonely Island himself if you kissed him, or he saw a flash of ankle, let alone me nude."

Lilly looks lost. Despondent really in the notion that Dante didn't like that outfit. Briefly until she is beaming a smile again when Kameshi talks to her. "Oh. Nice to meet you too! I'm Lilly," she says with the words tripping over themselves in excitement. "So cool to meet you. Oh you know him. Oh ... huh ... Corset! Love it! Thanks for the tip!" She pushes in on her sides and upwards on her bust. "Uh ... where do you get one?"

Adeline glances at Lilly sympathetically, and mutters, "I dunno who Dante is, but calling someone Little Bo Peep is kinda mean. You always look gorgeous in whatever I've seen you in, honey." She says this to Lilly, sincerely and admiringly. Then she giggles at Goldie's summary, and beams at Kameshi, "Spontaneously, huh? I believe it." And she clearly appreciates the tip. "A lashing weapon I can goddamn do," and she clearly means it, eyes narrowing with definite glee at the prospect. Another admiring glance at Kameshi, which becomes even more admitting when Kameshi recognizes the quotation on her jacket. "You recognized it. Yes! God, I care about that quotation so so fucking much," and she even clenches her fists with her emotion. Those words mean a lot to her. She's still beaming when her phone beeps and she reaches into that jacket pocket, hauls it out to glance casually at the notification. And at that, the smile vanishes from her face. "Uh-" and now she's frowning, looking concerned, and tapping a quick reply. She is trying to smile again when she looks up, and listens to the others interact, but she keeps the phone in her hand and it's clear she is waiting for a reply. A reply does come quickly, and when she sees it she looks distracted. "Hmmmmm." Gloomily. She reaches into the changing room and hauls out the clothes. "I better go, chaps. Lovely to see you. Thanks for the help with the Take Me Seriously project. I'll give the PVC a while. I mean, PVC has never let me down before! Delicious fabric." Affectionate. And affectionate, too, is her wave to the other women.

Goldie says, "It embarrasses me,--" Goldie gets playfully defensive behind her half-drank, mostly ice and water, Cinnabon iced coffee, "--that I turn into a mewing ridiculous person on the floor begging for your vagina while you taunt me about having more willpower. She gives Kameshi a flat look and then turns to Lilly, 'He said nothing to me about whale bone corsets.' Thank god. 'They have corsets here, silly.' In fact, Georgina is wearing an Alexander McQueen lace corset right then. The four chicklets are in a dressing room in Nieman's, probably giving the staff an anxiety attack." When Adeline says she has to go, Goldie lowers the ice coffee and waves at her departure, 'We'll see you again soon, Addy. Kick ass at your new thing.'

Lilly nibbles at her lower lip when she hears Goldie's reply. She's torn. What to do. Then her phone beeps. "Oh it's him!" she says with excitement.

A small spider crawls along the ceiling where the wall meets in the dressing room. Moves an inch, stops. Moves another two inches, stops. Pausing about three quarters the way to the other corner. Lingering just above the chittering women.

Goldie grins at Lilly's reaction. 'Well, we've been here since 10 AM. We have to have found something that you like and he'll like. Pick something, I'll pay for it, and you can go see him.'

While she is tempted to just change our here, cause the reactions would be epic, Kameshi takes advantage of Adeline's lingering out of the changing rooms to slip in with a powder blue tuxedo blazer and matching mini slit tube skirt. She isn't in there long before she huffs back out, pouting, "You know, sometimes it is a real pain having curves." rezipping her jeans. She looks at Goldie, "I never taunt you about having no willpower. I love you for you, but I also don't encourage your lack of control. I trust you to grow stronger and more disciplined with or without me. And while the begging is flattering, I want to help you grow stronger willed for your own good, so people with lower moral fiber and crueler minds don't take advantage of your sweet, loving, passionate, enthusiastic, vibrant, super thirsty nature."

As Adeline leaves, she mumbles something appreciative about Alexander McQueen corsets, and presumably their contents. A warm smile to all, except not the spider. The spider doesn't get a smile. No smile for spider. It just gets a wary glance! Not an arachnophiliac, then.

Lilly looks up quickly and levels a deadly serious look at Goldie. Well. As close as she ever really comes to such. "I need a corset. He's sending a car for me!" Her attention darts to Kameshi as she shimmies out of her dress and puts it back on a hanger. "You seem to know about them. Can you help me?" she asks in a rush of words.

Goldie pops up from her seat and bins what remains of her iced coffee. She nods at Lilly and says, 'Yes, yes, I'll go talk to Rou. Wait here for me.' To Kameshi, the brunette, in route to the entrance, says, 'I appreciate you want me to grow stronger and more disciplined, Kameshi, but its frustrating that you know how insanely hot you are, know your effect on me and . . . well, frankly, people in general and you flaunt it knowing the effect it will have on me.' A shrug, 'Knowing that it will never happen and you'd never let it happen.' She pfts, shrugs and tells Lilly, 'Be right back.'

Pausing long enough, the little spider scurries the rest of the way across the ceiling. Now in the corner of the dressing room, it turns along the wall going towards the door.

Nodding to Lilly, Kameshi smiles, "Not finding anything that will fit me here anyway. I'd personally say Velvet Dreams, since they specialize in the fashion, have a great selection of off-the-rack stuff, as well as an artist who can custom tailor stuff to fit you perfectly." she looks to Goldie and pouts more deeply, "I never said it would never happen." she waits for Goldie to return, her eyes almost looking like she might cry, "Goldie... Georgina... you are my best friend, like my little sister, and I care deeply for your, in ways I don't feel for many others. You are asking me to give myself to you fully, in a way that I am not ready to give myself to anyone. Never say never. In truth, you are one of the few people I have considered, but you are always a wild whirlwind, and your passion is overwhelming, scary even at times, and if I need a gentle touch my first time, not a big bad wolf, snarling and clawing, and huffing, and puffing, and wanting to blow my doors down."

Lilly nods her head. "Velvet Dreams. By the campus. I've seen it." She giggles excitedly. "But I need something quicker. He's sending the car." The underwear glad girl bounces happily. "I love that he has cars and people to send. Sounds like you two have a complex history."

Goldie returns, sadfacing. She points to the yellow dress and boots and says, 'I'm sorry, the only corset bustier thing that they have is the one I'm wearing and he's already seen me in it.' Her hands come up, fanning dismissively at it, 'Wear that dress, he likes classic looks so he may like it, and uh --,' she points, 'Those boots?' A pause, circling around, she finds a box and fishes it out, 'Or these . . . for a touch of slutty -- fitness -- amazon.' Or these, 'If you're going to someplace club-like,' she offers the other box. Goldie adds, seriously to Lilly, 'Take the tags off if you decide to wear it and pass them to me, so I can purchase it. Make sure you stop by the register on the way out, so they can take the magnetic tags off -- and,' she pauses, 'Just pass me your clothes, I'll hold onto them.' She takes a breath and adds, 'Lil, he may try to fuck you, but trust me when I say -- DO IT. It's a fantastic lay.' Finally, slumped outside the dressing room, Goldie looks to Kameshi and says, 'No, I'm not, I'm asking -- until you're willing to go there -- not to dangle tempation in front of my face because NO ONE CAN RESIST YOU.'

Lilly hugs Goldie back happily and kisses her cheek. "You're awesome!" Hurriedly she dressed and fusses to smooth things out so it doesn't look like she dressed in a hurry. She giggles a bit at Goldie's last comment and looks around and slides her underwear off. "Got it! You two gunna be OK if I go?" She glances between the two of you. "She's right," she tells Kameshi.

The common little spider crawls around the bend following the wall into the next dressing room, continuing its epic journey of inches.

Goldie pops up, takes the tags, clothes. 'Also, grab a Prada bag on the way out, its on me,' she says. 'Tell them at the register to put it on my charge.' Because she is here literally three times a week. The clothes she is handed are dropped on the bench she just rose up from. 'I'll get a bag for these.' To Lilly, she pats her butt and says, 'Go, go.' Roa appears just then and she says, 'Hey, oh gosh, glad you're here! Can you take the magnetic tags off of her and get me a bag for her clothes? After, way after, last thing. I've got the tickets for her clothes. You can charge them . . . ' and oh! 'I told her she could get a Prada bag.' A nodnod is given at Lilly, 'We'll be fine, this is our normal. Go have fun.'

Blushing at the impassioned statement by Goldie, and then the reaffirmation by the Fitness model. She nods, "Well, then I guess I will go elsewhere to shop. So I don't tempt you." she mopes away, flopping the skirt and jacket over a cart for stuff to be rehangered and reracked. She runs her fingernails over hangers on the racks as she wanders toward the exit, seeming disheartened to be yelled at for being herself. She doesn't yell at Goldie for being lusty, why does she have to be yelled at for inspiring lust... it isn't like she actually has a choice... but Goldie doesn't seem to understand that... doesn't understand what it is like to be, but what use would it be to tell Goldie... how does the Venus Fly Trap tell the Lightning Bug that it can't stop smelling sweet and can't control the reflex that closes the trap.

Goldie watches Lilly exit and waves to the woman as she dashes out into the store, giggling and jumping around bubbly like. 'She's Dante's new Summer,' she says to Kameshi. The clothes left behind are neatly folded and slipped into a plastic bag that Roa popped in to hand her in the middle of all the hubbub. 'Stop pouting, Kami,' she says, glancing up at her when she drops her clothes off by the door. 'You know I don't really want you to go away. It just upsets me.'

Little spider eventually disappears into the woodwork so to speak. Falling from view as it moves along its way.

Glancing back, Kameshi nods, but the pout is still there, "Perhaps we can talk, another time, about many things." she sighs, "I need to go do some inner self exploration, perhaps reevaluate my path, and who can and can't walk that path with me." waggling her fingers in a half-hearted wave, as she continues on, still clicking her fingers along the racks, not even addressing the issues with being Dante's new Summer... like what happened to Dante's last Summer... or that Kameshi was in that very same spot only a month and half ago herself.

"Wait, wait, wait,' Goldie drops the clothes on the bench and comes up behind Kameshi, grabbing her into a hug. 'You know most of the time when I say shit like that, I'm just teasing you, right?' she says at her shoulder. She hugs her back to her chest and peers over her shoulder, 'I mean, not that no one can resist you and not that you're super hot and not that it upset me or does upset me when you do it, but -,' she smiles encouragingly and whispers. 'I'm over it. I bring it up because you do. And, part of me finds it amusing how oblivious you are to it.'