Exclusive Episode Preview - 1910 Ep 3: The Dressmaker's Assistants

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Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Episode three, The Dressmaker's Assistance.The next morning, I arrived at the
shop to find the most beautiful dresslaying out on my work table, the

(00:28):
gold damask silk glowing in the sunlight. I couldn't believe my eyes. I
recognized the design as one of mysketches, and the fabric had been sitting
on my shelf for weeks, waitingfor a client. But there had been
no orders, no clients, andthe work who had done the work,

(00:50):
even with all of my girls workingon it at once. A dress like
that would have taken a full weekto finish, and that's on the opp
do mystics died, the drapery,the beating, all of that was meticulous
and time consuming, but there itwas before me, complete and perfect in

(01:15):
only one night. I'd been makingdresses all my life, and I could
not have done a better job.My guess was that one of the girls
had crafted the gown, working onit in secret for weeks, waiting to
reveal the finished garment. I'd hadto lay them all off those that were

(01:36):
left, as there was nothing forthem to do. Clearly, someone had
been quite busy during that time whileI waited for whom, ever, it
was to arrive and claim responsibility.I put the dress on one of the
mannikins and placed it in the window. No one ever did come forward,
but that afternoon a woman walked inand wanted the gown on the spot.

(01:59):
I considered refuse us, as Ididn't know who had actually made it,
but I realized the gown had beenleft for me. It was mine to
do with as I wanted, andselling it was my best option. I
had to do some minor fitting adjustments, but in only a few hours I
was able to send my customer onher way with the dress. She paid

(02:23):
me handsomely. It was only later, when I was searching for signs that
someone had snuck into the store toleave the dress, that I realized one
of my dress dummies was changed.I had six of them, you see,
all purchased in Paris the year beforeto fit the newest silhouette. The

(02:46):
bodies were all the same paper macheand wire cages with arms that could be
attached, But now one of themhad hands and fingers. It was so
slight a thing, it's no wonderI didn't notice right away. Once I

(03:12):
realized, well, it was quiteconfusing. I knew it hadn't been like
that when I purchased it. However, it hardly seemed like the most pressing
discovery of the day. When itcame time to close and go home,
I still hadn't found any answers.The next morning I arrived to find another

(03:38):
dress, different from the first,a blue sapphire weighted silk with chiffon overlay,
but still my design. Again,I put it in the window,
and again someone came in promptly topurchase it. I even had two women
come in to ask about the dressand order the design in other colors.

(03:58):
I searched high and low, butaside from the fact that my materials had
been used, nothing in the shopwas a miss or out of place except
the dress forms. Now two ofthem had hands