Attention:
The character Ida's name will sometimes change to Ada.
"Oh, right—I also went to the clothing studio!"
Lily suddenly stood up as she spoke.
"What's up?"
"I promised Lisa I'd take photos for her. You know, a model can't do without a good photographer."
"Oh."
Catherine didn't know much about fashion design. In fact, although she was familiar with some American fashion trends of the 1960s, she couldn't afford to divert her energy into tailoring. Besides, in her opinion, clothing from that era felt far too outdated. The only truly bold contribution of the textile industry at the time was the invention of the miniskirt.
What Catherine really wanted to do, though, was work in the software industry. She had even bought some semiconductor components from Fairchild Semiconductor to try building something herself—but that half-finished project was probably still sitting in her room.
"Kate, do you want to come with me?" Lily invited.
"Sure."
In any case, the revolutionary board game Dungeons & Dragons wouldn't be released for another ten years. Even though she was a little stuck on that idea for now, it didn't affect her plans at all.
The fashion design club wasn't large—just a small cabin—but it was quite close to the dorms, and the atmosphere was pleasant. There were only three members, which was relatively few.
"Hi, Lisa, I'm here," Lily said as she opened the door. Inside, there was only one girl, sketching something. She looked a bit older than Lily.
"This is Catherine, my roommate. Kate, this is Lisa, the president of the fashion design club."
"Nice to meet you, Catherine. My name is Lisa, I'm in ninth grade." Lisa smiled, stood up, and greeted her.
"Nice to meet you too. Just call me Kate."
"Where are Ida and Jenny?" Lily asked, glancing around.
"Jenny's helping Ida change."
Just then, two more people came out of the changing room.
"Ida, Jenny, Lily's here. This is her roommate, Catherine."
"Hi—just call me Kate."
"Hi, I'm Jenny."
Jenny wasn't particularly pretty. She had freckles and wore large glasses—the classic "model student" look.
The other girl beside her, however, was very beautiful. She seemed to be around Lily's age. Even though Catherine thought Lily was already quite pretty, Ida was even more striking—perhaps more captivating.
"What a beautiful girl. Hi, Kate. My name's Ida."
Catherine had just been thinking about how beautiful the other girl was, so hearing Ida compliment her in return caught her off guard. She felt a little embarrassed.
In truth, Catherine didn't need to downplay herself. She really was very beautiful, by both Western and Eastern aesthetic standards. To be precise, Catherine probably liked girls like herself—but perhaps because she had such a beautiful face, she didn't think much about it.
That said, Catherine took excellent care of her body.
Some people say that Western women, though beautiful, are best admired from a distance, mainly because up close they often have large pores or rough skin. In reality, this is closely tied to environment. For example, in her previous life, Catherine lived below a Russian woman in her forties who looked astonishingly young—almost nineteen. Yet when Catherine first met her ten years earlier, the woman looked very much her age.
Based on that, Catherine analyzed the reasons: diet, climate, environment—all of these mattered. Catherine had always been very careful about what she ate. She absolutely refused to eat rare or medium-rare beef and paid close attention to her vegetable intake. Perhaps because of her mixed heritage or natural constitution, her skin was exceptionally smooth—almost silky.
Thanks to her ballet training, Catherine also had an excellent figure. After all, ballet is one of the best disciplines for shaping the human body. And because she took such good care of herself, she didn't have issues like bulky calves. Her legs were strong, but they looked slim and well-proportioned.
"Mmm… Kate, you have a really nice figure," Lisa said, offering Catherine the same compliment—probably a professional habit of a fashion designer.
"Thank you," Catherine replied a bit awkwardly, lowering her head and glancing at her body.
Catherine had a good figure—one might even call it slender. Her shoulders weren't as broad as those of the average European or American, which gave her a rather delicate appearance. Her limbs were long, especially her legs. Her long legs were very eye-catching, and she believed that once she grew a bit older, her figure would be stunning.
"This outfit is really pretty," Lily said, looking Ida up and down.
Ida had a great figure. She was wearing a white blouse and a knee-length skirt.
"Really? I feel like something could be improved, but I can't quite put my finger on it," Lisa said, studying Ida's skirt and shaking her head.
"It's already pretty good," Ida said, shifting her posture slightly.
"Maybe the skirt would look better a bit shorter?" Catherine suggested.
At Catherine's words, Lisa's eyes lit up.
"Yes! That's it! The skirt hides Ida's figure. Ida, you could look even better!"
But after staring at it for a while, Lisa still looked uncertain.
"How much shorter… how short would be best? If it's average—no, maybe even higher…"
"Uh…" Catherine thought for a moment.
Although the miniskirt had technically been invented in 1955, it wouldn't become popular until 1964. Right now, it was still just a concept.
"About where your middle fingers hang," Catherine said, thinking of the standard length for a miniskirt.
Yes—that was it. A miniskirt.
"Ida, take off the skirt. I'll adjust it for you."
"Okay," Ida said, removing the skirt.
Pink…
Catherine's eyes widened slightly, but just then Lily's voice cut in.
"Kate, are you into fashion design too?"
"Well, no. I just think it looks better this way."
As she said it, something clicked in Catherine's mind.
That's right—a miniskirt!
The 1960s and 70s were exactly the era when miniskirts became fashionable. Starting there would be far easier than pushing tabletop role-playing games!
Catherine smiled to herself. This brought her one step closer to her goal.
"Kate, why don't you give it a try?" Lily suddenly said, smiling at her.