Work Text:
Ches 1475
Baldur’s Gate
Powder blue cotton-silk glides over her fingers. A thumb caresses over the brocaded selfstripe. The subtle flowers printed between the rows of cream are an even paler blue. A single bow, referred to by the fashion-forward of the day as a “perfect contentment,” centers on the bodice. The trim is an understated braid of the same pastel blue interspersed with muted yellow.
Eliwyn pulls the gown from its box and lays it on the lounge chair in her room. This more casual cut is a stark contrast to the style of even the previous decades. Back then it was all lace and bows and ruffles and bold colors. The more adornments the better. The busier the pattern the more fashionable. The skirt of this dress is completely devoid of the flounces and ruffles that were once the height of fashion. Instead, it is the understated yet expert pleating around the bodice that will draw the eye.
How quickly human clothing changes.
This is Eliwyn’s first new dress in over thirty years. Her mother is so reluctant to spend money on new clothes unless they have started to show signs of wear and are beyond mending. The concept of staying up with fashion is quite lost on her given that elven styles change so infrequently.
An elven seamstress or tailor will spend decades perfecting a new style before revealing it. Even then, any changes to the fashion are minute for above all else elves value a certain amount of timelessness to their fashion. Clothing is also made with only the most durable of fabrics, so the sheer quality of elven clothes means they hardly ever fall victim to wear and tear. Even after almost a century of living in Baldur’s Gate her mother has yet to eschew her elven clothes, all of which she has had since well before leaving Semberholme. Yet even her day-to-day clothes look as if they’ve only just arrived from the seamstress.
In the bottom of Eliwyn’s chest of drawers lay her own set of elven gowns. They were purchased by her mother from an elven seamstress in Silverymoon and given to Eliwyn on her twentieth birthday, when her aging slowed to a near standstill. On top is perhaps her favorite—a dark blue gown over diaphanous fabric the shade of a robin’s egg. Despite liking the dress quite a bit, she’s only worn it maybe a handful of times. Elven clothes have never felt truly comfortable.
From the next drawer up, Eliwyn pulls out a lovely silk gown of sage green with a matching petticoat. It was her very first human-style formal gown and has been made over countless times in her effort to not look outlandish in entirely outdated styles. The floral stomacher is the only part remaining from the original. Beneath is another gown, one of cream printed cotton adorned with little flowers of blue and pink. The pastels are punctuated here and there by bold purple blooms. This one, too, has seen its fair share of stitching and cutting and letting down.
Both gowns spread out across the lounge now. Eliwyn brings the new dress to the forefront. It is fashionable if a bit simple by Baldurian standards. Simple is all she could afford with her own money. She’s been saving up the stipend she receives as a dawn priest for just this purpose.
But simple suits her just fine.
A soft rap on the door precedes the appearance of the housemaid, Shirra. The maid’s eyes dart to the chair then back to Eliwyn. They widen with delight.
“Is that it? The new dress?”
Eliwyn beams and beckons her in. “What do you think?”
Shirra just barely touches the hem of the sleeve, as if her fingers will somehow damage the gown. “It’s beautiful, Miss Eliwyn.”
Eliwyn clamps her lip between her teeth to bite back her excitement. “Oh, and the seamstress included these, as well,” she says, gathering up a few sheets of paper from the bottom of the dress box. They are patterns of the more popular styles of gowns these days.
“These look easy enough. We should be able to make over all your dresses in no time,” says Shirra as she riffles through the pages. “Also, before I forget. This just arrived for you. From Blaze Ravengard’s office.”
Eliwyn’s stomach drops. She’s not due for a meeting with Ulder until next tenday, yet the note says she is to go to his office immediately. Which means he must want to reprimand her for something. Likely he found out she let Wyll have his lessons in the park yesterday.
“Well, I suppose these will have to keep for now,” Eliwyn says with a disappointed sigh. “Which one should we start with though? I need something pleasant to occupy my thoughts during this meeting.”
Shirra tilts her head as she considers. “The green one. Green is your color, after all.”
