I Became a Clothing Designer in Another World - Chapter 25

I decided to put aside my mother's suggestion for now.

Just because I've made one or two pieces of clothing doesn't mean I can open a store.

I felt it was premature to run a boutique and make clothes with only having made an Empire silhouette at best.

There would need to be far more distinctive clothes than the existing ones for customers to take interest in a new store.

So, I told her that I would think about it after enriching my portfolio a bit more and returned to my room.

The first thing to do to increase my works is market research.

Until now, I've been making things as I saw them, as I felt like it, but if I were to run a store, doing things like that would lead to big trouble.

"Cough! Young master... Cough! I brought everything... Cough!"

"Uh... Achoo! Th... Thank you."

The reason why I came to the warehouse with Emily, coughing and sneezing diligently, to find the newspapers that had been collected over the past 10 years is for that reason.

One every two weeks, twenty-six a year, a total of two hundred and sixty copies over 10 years.

It's not a large amount.

If it were a daily newspaper, I wouldn't even think about reading it.

"Cough!"

I coughed, choked by the dust crawling into my throat, and picked up the oldest newspaper.

I quickly skim through all the political and diplomatic articles, focusing on commentary, society, and economy-related articles.

"Not this one... Hmm... this one's a bit better."

While classifying the articles one by one, I slowly examined the changes in society.

If there was one thing that caught my eye as the newspapers piled up, it was articles related to outdoor activities.

The number of young nobles enjoying horseback riding, swimming, hunting, and golf is increasing, and a few years ago, His Majesty the Emperor officially recognized the admission of female knights into the Order.

I wondered if it was a temporary fad, but commentaries starting with 'These days kids...' that popped up from time to time refuted this.

The conclusion I reached through 10 years' worth of articles was that 'the outdoor activities of young ladies are increasing.'

However, I had never heard of activewear made for women.

I knew that the knights' uniforms were roughly altered only in length from the men's versions, and that women who enjoyed outdoor activities only changed the petticoat under their wide dresses to something easier to move in, with no major changes from the existing clothing.

The existing clothes had many difficulties for outdoor activities, so changes should have occurred first, but little had changed over the long period of 10 years.

Is it true that the outdoor activities of young ladies are increasing, as the newspaper says?

While the increase itself is a fact, isn't there a possibility that it has been exaggerated?

"Hmm..."

I replayed Heiss and my sisters' childhoods in my mind.

Everyone except me likes meeting people, but they aren't people who enjoy outdoor activities.

Except for my mother occasionally enjoying hunting, most activities were indoor activities like tea parties or reading clubs.

"Tsk..."

I clicked my tongue and folded the newspaper I was holding open.

I decided that looking at the newspaper any further wouldn't give me an answer.

I've vaguely grasped a direction from the newspaper itself, so all that's left is to go around and confirm if that's correct.

I got up from my seat, brushed the dust off my butt, and glanced at Emily.

"Emily."

"Yes, young master."

"Let's organize the newspapers and go somewhere else."

"Yes, I understand."

_

Among our family, Heiss is the only young lady who hasn't married and remains at the mansion, but if I turn my attention to 'young noble women,' there are quite a few who reside in our mansion.

The recent sister-in-law who came to the mansion, as well as the sister-in-law's maid Charlotte, Heiss's maid Leticia, and mother's maid Grace are all young women under twenty years old.

If I ask the people at home first, and then ask what their friends are doing, I'll have quite a few samples.

So, I visited Heiss first.

She's the closest to me among the people in the mansion, and if Heiss is there, Leticia will be by her side too.

- Knock knock

"Hey, can I come in?"

"Huh? Brother?"

Entering Heiss's room like that.

When I opened the door slightly and poked my head in, Heiss, who was embroidering a handkerchief with Leticia, stared blankly at me with eyes that said, 'What brings you here?'

"What's the matter?"

"There's something I want to ask you."

"Will it take long?"

"It won't take that long."

"Then come in."

"Thank you."

With Heiss's permission, I smiled brightly and went inside, approaching the table where Heiss and Leticia were sitting.

"Flower?"

Embroidery that came into view as I got closer to the table.

I can't tell exactly because the shape isn't complete yet, but something that looks like a red flower was embroidered on the handkerchief.

"Yeah, I'm embroidering roses and tulips."

"Are you going to give it to the prince?"

"Hehe~ I'm practicing to do that."

"Ugh..."

Heiss blushing and smiling bashfully.

It seemed like she was having a very passionate love with the prince, so I felt unnecessarily bitter.

If I continued talking about embroidery, I felt like I would only feel lonely, so I immediately stopped talking about embroidery and got to the point.

"Do you know what the hobbies of young ladies these days are?"

"Hobbies of young ladies these days? Is there anything special? Embroidery, reading, and tea time would be the end, wouldn't it?"

"Don't they do things like horseback riding or hunting?"

"Horseback riding or hunting...?"

Heiss stopped her hand, raised her eyes, and pursed her lips slightly.

"I've heard that there are young ladies who enjoy that these days, I think most of them were from knight families..."

"How many were there?"

"One in ten?"

"I see."

One in ten was roughly the same as the number of knight families.

It's not a large number compared to what the knights are making a fuss about, but it's not a small number to ignore.

There are hundreds of young ladies in knight families alone.

I turned my head slightly and shifted my gaze to Leticia.

"Leticia, have you ever heard of anything?"

"M-me?"

Leticia, startled, put down the embroidery she was concentrating on.

And she rolled her eyes back and forth before opening her mouth with a puzzled expression.

"I... I've heard rumors that nobles in the south enjoy playing in the water, they say they overcome the heat by splashing around in the sea."

"Sea..."

The southern part of the empire was the only region in this country with a sea and a hot climate.

The information Leticia is talking about is just a rumor, but it's difficult to simply ignore it because it's a rumor coming from a region where escaping the heat is considered important due to the heat that continues all year round.

"In that case, do young ladies not do much golfing?"

"No, it's more uncomfortable than horseback riding."

"That's right, horseback riding is a bit better because you're on a horse, but walking around the grass in heels and a dress is very tiring, your shoes keep falling off, and mud gets plastered all over your dress... Ugh..."

Heiss shuddered, wrinkling her lips as if she had really had that terrible experience.

"But I've heard that there are some who occasionally enjoy it in the northern part where there is little rain."

"Hmm... I see."

The northern part of the empire was the most remote of the remote areas, the area was large enough to account for 30% of the empire, but the population was so small that it didn't exceed 10%.

Because of this, the territories were also divided very largely, and the number of nobles was incomparably small.

In that case, it can be said that there are not many young ladies who enjoy golf.

"I think this is roughly solved, thank you, thank you Leticia for answering well."

"It wasn't a difficult question."

"I think it's because of clothes, if you make something pretty, you have to show it to me, right?"

"Yes, I'll show it to you first, I'll be going now."

"Okay."

After making a promise with Heiss, I turned my back and left the room.

And after thinking for a while, I moved my steps to the room where my sister-in-law was.

_

After going around Heiss and Leticia, my sister-in-law and Charlotte, and my mother and Grace in order, I was able to reach one conclusion.

That young ladies are going out a lot these days.

Not only really active things like horseback riding or playing in the water, but also activities such as going out or traveling to other regions have increased a lot.

It's probably a climate that was created because of the current Empress, the empire's first female emperor.

In that case, is this a temporary phenomenon?

It was a phenomenon that had been going on since Her Majesty the Empress ascended the throne.

That's about 20 years.

Not 1 or 2 years, but 20 years is enough to be considered a trend of the times.

Even this is not a trend that is slowly declining, and it seems that each hobby is trying to create its own support base, so this trend will likely continue for the next one or two generations.

If I'm lucky, even longer than that.

The older generation is not very happy to accept these changes, and this time, when the generation that has embraced the changes is trying to emerge as the mainstream of society, is a very good opportunity for me to give a change to clothes.

It would be very foolish to miss this opportunity.

I also knew that the direction was not bad, and there seemed to be demand, so I had to see with my own eyes if there was really a possibility.

"Emily."

"Yes?"

"Let's go on a short trip."

"A trip? Where are you going all of a sudden?"

"It's summer now, so we can go around the sea once, ride a horse once, and so on."

"Ugh..."

Emily, who made a groan as if she had seen something terrible, frowned with an expression that clearly showed that she was annoyed.

"You're going even if I say I don't want to, right?"

I smiled and nodded.

"Of course."

I'm sorry to Emily, but Emily had no choice.