The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle: A Novel

Grace joins Violet and Cressida at the manor the next morning, where they peruse the newspapers plastered with Grace’s photo and other images from the fashion show. The butler announces that Hugh and Astrid will arrive soon, and Cressida and Violet despair again over Hugh marrying Astrid. Violet points out how freeing it can be to let go of the expectations they were raised with. Suddenly determined, Grace asks to use Violet’s makeup to freshen up and explains that she is finally going to go after what she wants. Even if she does not get the answer she wants, she is going to confront Hugh. Violet agrees to distract Astrid so Grace can speak with Hugh privately. When Astrid arrives, she is full of criticisms about the manor, including their cook, and she expresses disdain at the idea of sharing haute couture design with “the masses” through the Utility Clothes fashion show. She claims people should have had the forethought to stock up on clothes before the war, not caring when Cressida points out that wealthy people stocking up on clothing raised prices so high that many other people couldn’t afford to stock up themselves.