I Became a Clothing Designer in Another World - Chapter 28

"The knights seem to need time to organize their thoughts, so I'd like to hear your opinion specifically first. Why did you think that uniform was strange?"

"It would be quicker to show you directly."

At His Highness the Prince Consort's question, I nodded and looked at the knights.

"Perhaps, would one of you be willing to help me?"

The knights glanced at each other, watching each other's reactions. Then, a brown-haired knight with a youthful face who looked about my age awkwardly raised his hand and stepped forward.

"... I will."

"Thank you."

I bowed slightly to the knight to express my gratitude, and stood next to him, sketching the outline of my upper body with my hand as I began to explain.

"If you exaggerate the body types of men and women, men are trapezoids, and women are hexagons. This is because men are widest at the shoulders, and women are widest at the hips."

I pointed to the knight's shoulder with my finger.

Then, I drew a line in the air, connecting the shoulder and the hips.

"This person has developed broader shoulders than the average woman through rigorous training, but despite those efforts, the width of the hips and shoulders is similar. If a man had trained to this extent, his body would have been in an inverted triangle shape."

I went behind the knight and stood side by side, front and back.

"This difference makes you feel awkward when wearing clothes of the opposite gender. This is more pronounced the more extreme the body shape, as is the case with knights."

I paused and continued explaining, pointing to the knight's shoulder.

"First of all, the shoulders. Women tend to have a larger bust compared to their torso width. So, if you fit the clothes to the shoulders, the chest feels constricted, and if you fit the clothes to the chest, the shoulders become loose. Judging from the lack of wrinkles in the clothes, it seems that this person fitted the clothes to the chest, in which case there is a lot of space around the shoulders like this."

When I pressed the end of the shoulder with my finger, about a finger joint's worth sank in.

"Another problem that arises when fitting to the bust is that there is a lot of space around the waist. The clothes balloon out and make you look like a log."

This time, I grabbed the clothes at the waist and pulled them slightly.

Then, the opposite side caved in, revealing the space hidden in the clothes.

And I pointed to the hips and waistline, indicating the length of the jacket.

"Also, women's clothes have a shorter upper body. This is because the hips are higher than men's, so the waistline is higher. If you wear it without adjusting this, the clothes feel big. This outfit doesn't look strange because the length has been shortened, but..."

I trailed off and pointed to the buttons and collar.

"The problem is that when you shorten the length and reduce the circumference like this, the decorations become misaligned from their original positions or look bigger. The collar feels too big, or the buttons look too low."

That's about it for the noticeable parts on the top.

I crouched down and pointed to the line from the hips to the ankles.

"Next is the pelvis. The pelvis is the thickest part of a woman's body. Depending on the person, it can be thicker than a man's. But the legs are much thinner than a man's. Because of this, the overall width of the pants needs to be adjusted."

I stood up.

"Even if I only point out the noticeable parts, it's this much. That's why I think the uniform is strange."

"A total mess."

The Prince Consort, who had been listening to my explanation quietly, left a short comment and nodded lightly.

But after a while, His Highness narrowed his eyes and pointed to the knight's uniform, raising an objection.

"I understand the problem, but the Knights have already been allowing alterations to the uniforms and supporting the costs. Isn't that enough?"

I smiled and nodded.

"Your Highness, think about it. Is it efficient and smart to give money to fix the shoulders, waist, sleeve length, upper body length, lower body length, and pants circumference one by one? What kind of pointless thing is this? If you're going to give it properly from the beginning, why do the work twice?"

"... That's true."

If you're going to waste money and time on alterations anyway, you should make it properly from the beginning.

"Also, there are significantly fewer female knights than male knights. Is it right to provide uniforms tailored to female knights, even so?"

"How many women are currently in the Knights?"

"There are 73."

"It's not just 73, but a whopping 73. If it's the Imperial Knights, isn't it the most important Knights in the country? It wouldn't be enough to give the best treatment to the best knights who are in charge of guarding His Majesty the Emperor and Her Highness the First Princess, but isn't it ridiculous that they are wearing clothes that don't fit and getting them altered?"

"Hmm..."

His Highness let out a faint groan and looked at me and the knight.

Then, he stepped forward and asked the knights standing in the training ground a question.

"Do you also agree with the Duke's opinion?"

"......"

At His Highness's question, the knights froze as if they had stiffened.

The knights looked at each other, hesitating to answer, and then the knight who seemed to be the most senior swallowed hard and opened his mouth with a determined expression.

"... We were also thinking that it seemed inefficient."

"I see."

It wasn't just that knight's opinion, as the other knights were also nodding lightly as if they agreed.

"In fact, the Imperial Family was also aware of this problem."

"Then why have you been neglecting it until now?"

"No designer came forward to do it. There was more resistance to women wearing pants than I thought."

"Ah..."

I thought there would be resistance, but I didn't know they would even refuse requests from the Imperial Family.

"Duke William, would you like to take on this task?"

"Me?"

"Yes."

"Is it okay? Objectively speaking, nothing about me has been verified."

"That's right."

"......?"

I stared blankly at His Highness for a moment, making a dumbfounded expression at his immediate and affirmative nod.

His Highness chuckled at my reaction and added.

"However, even if someone is not verified, we can still listen to their opinion. I will give you two weeks to come up with a plan on how to change the female knights' uniforms during that time."

"Is it just designing that I need to plan?"

"Yes, is it possible?"

A good opportunity that I hadn't even imagined suddenly fell from the sky.

If I succeed, it's an opportunity to be noticed by the Imperial Family and make a name for myself.

I swallowed once and bowed my head, seizing the opportunity that His Highness had given me.

"If Your Highness says so, I will do my best."

"Your confidence is just like your father's, which is good to see. Duke, do you need anything for this task?"

"Would it be okay if I organize it in a letter later and let you know?"

"I permit it. In that case, you will need someone to act as a messenger. Sir Rachel?"

"Yes! Your Highness, what is your command!"

When His Highness called out the name of a certain knight, the youthful knight who had helped with the explanation answered in a loud voice, kneeling on one knee and bowing her head.

"For the next two weeks, Sir, you will be the communication channel between Duke William and His Highness. Do you understand?"

"Yes! I will obey your command!"

"Hmm."

His Highness nodded slightly at Sir Rachel's reply and gestured for Sir Rachel to rise, then glanced at me.

"I will also give word to the Knights, so if there is anything you need, do not hesitate to speak."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"I will be expecting it, I hope you bring good results."

The pressure rises sharply at His Highness's last words.

"Haha... I will try my best."

I smiled awkwardly and bowed my head slightly.

_

Having received orders from His Highness the Prince Consort, I returned to the townhouse right away.

Together with Sir Rachel, who also received His Highness's orders.

A new guest has arrived, so I thought I should tell my brother, so I went to my brother's office as soon as I returned.

"Brother, I'm back."

"William... Welcome..."

My brother, who greeted me with a smiling face as I returned from my outing, pointed at Sir Rachel with a bewildered expression as soon as he saw her entering behind me.

"Who are you?"

"Greetings, future head of the Hume County, I am Rachel Scott, a lower-ranking knight of the Imperial Knights. I am a commoner, so there is no prominent family to boast about."

"Nice to meet you, Sir Rachel, but what reason do you have for coming here? Did my brother do something wrong?"

"I will be working as Duke William's communication channel with His Highness for two weeks, according to the Prince Consort's orders."

"Prince... Consort...?"

My brother's eyes shook violently at the words "Prince Consort."

My brother, moving his eyes back and forth and slightly trembling his hands, glared at me as if telling me to explain.

"I happened to meet His Highness the Prince Consort at the Knights' barracks because of Father?"

"Yes."

"Somehow, I ended up receiving a mission from His Highness the Prince Consort, and I have to complete the order given by His Highness the Prince Consort within two weeks."

"Heo..."

My brother, who let out a hollow sigh, ran his hand over his face and then supported his head with his left hand, saying in a listless voice.

"What orders did His Highness give you...?"

"He told me to make uniforms for the Imperial Knights."

"I see..."

My brother closed his eyes.

And after a while, he opened his eyes with a gentle smile and opened his mouth nonchalantly.

"William, have you eaten?"

"Not yet."

"Let's eat."

My brother's gesture of suggesting a meal as if nothing had happened felt somehow hollow.