Page 37 of Wrapped Up at the Vintage Dress Shop (Vintage Dress Shop Romance #3)
‘I’ve got some white vinyl boots that would look amazing with it.’ Birdy held the dress up for closer inspection. ‘Thank you, Phoebe. I really appreciate this . . . I mean . . . I never.’ She shot Phoebe a sideways look. ‘Shall we talk about the elephant in the room?’
‘Which elephant in particular?’ Phoebe asked, immediately on guard. She could feel a tingling sensation as every hair on her body stood to attention.
‘Those awful videos that have gone viral. In that the people who have posted them are awful,’ Birdy clarified. ‘But also, I get that you’re passionate about vintage clothes, like, really passionate so I didn’t think you’d just give away a dress.’
Phoebe frowned. ‘But I never wear it and it’s silly to keep it tucked away. I’d much rather give it to someone who’d appreciate it and show it a good time.’
‘I just didn’t get the impression that that was your vibe,’ Birdy said carefully. ‘Like, maybe, you were more about keeping people away from the vintage dresses.’
‘Only the wrong people,’ Phoebe said with a little heat but she was a very long way from going fully nuclear, because Birdy didn’t seem to be criticising her but genuinely curious as to Phoebe’s policy when it came to the keeping, buying, selling and redistribution of vintage dresses.
‘Like influencers who think vintage is cool but have no respect for the history of a dress and yank it about and get fake tan all over it.’
No, she still wasn’t over that .
‘By influencers, I guess you mean Rosie Roberts?’ Birdy ventured and all Phoebe could do was snort in agreement. ‘It was still quite hard to work out what the context of that video was even with the four separate parts she posted.’
‘Let me fill you in on the details,’ Phoebe said and proceeded to do just that, which took quite some time.
‘Yes, at the end of the day, it’s just a dress but think about your favourite dresses and how they make you feel, all the good memories that you’ve made while you were wearing them.
Then if that dress is a vintage dress, it was someone else’s favourite dress before you ever clapped eyes on it.
That’s why I gave you this crimplene number, why I’m happy to swap dresses with friends, because you can never really own a vintage dress.
You’re more of a guardian, keeping it for future generations. Does that make sense?’
Birdy nodded. ‘Yeah, it does. And I get why you’d be cross when someone treats a dress that’s survived all those years with as little respect as if they bought it from Shein for a fiver.’
‘So, anyway, that’s why I have to intervene when people aren’t treating the dresses with the respect they deserve. Though yes, sometimes my interventions get a bit too heated,’ Phoebe said. She was relieved when Birdy smiled. She was smiling too.
‘I don’t want to be creepy but I really like you,’ Birdy said matter-of-factly. ‘I’m a great believer in just putting these things out there. I texted Faisal ten minutes after our first date to tell him that he was someone I wanted in my life.’
‘That’s very courageous.’ Phoebe sighed. Life must be easier, if you were more like the Birdys of this world. ‘I’m very good at telling people off for crimes against vintage fashion but I’m not brave like that.’
‘It’s the best way to make sure you only have good people around you,’ Birdy said with a warm smile like Phoebe was one of those good people.
‘Although me asking you to tea was my third attempt and then I was going to give up on you. If someone doesn’t want to be in your life, there’s no point in forcing them. ’
Phoebe had only accepted Birdy’s invitation because she couldn’t bear the thought of being alone.
She’d come here under false pretences but she was very glad that she had.
‘I’m quite hard to get to know,’ she admitted, not that she thought that was going to come as a shock.
‘I’m not really a people person. We’ve already established that I’m more of a dresses person. ’
‘Maybe you just haven’t met the right people,’ Birdy said, getting to her feet and stretching her arms over her head. ‘But now that you are here, it would be a pleasure and a privilege to let me show you my favourite dresses.’
Phoebe was grateful for the change of subject and she always welcomed the opportunity to rifle through someone else’s wardrobe especially when that someone had fairly excellent taste.
But as she followed Birdy to her bedroom, Phoebe wondered if maybe she had already met the right people but she hadn’t given them a chance because she was simply too used to always expecting the worst.
It was impossible to brood though, when confronted with Birdy’s main wardrobe in her bedroom and her overspill wardrobe, which was barely contained in a tiny box room. Birdy was a fashion magpie. Instead of settling on one look and one aesthetic like Phoebe, she refused to commit.
‘I mean, one day I want to dress like a 1960s dollybird, the next I want to look like it’s 1942 and I’ve been jiving all night with an American GI called Hank,’ she explained.
‘In fact, I was thinking of doing a time-lapse film showing ten different looks from ten different decades. Like, from the 1920s to the 2020s.’
‘Someone would pay you to do that?’ Phoebe asked in surprise.
Sadly, Birdy wasn’t getting paid for it. But she explained that the brand partnerships and #sponcon she did subsidised her income enough that she could film content that was more indulgent.
Phoebe was happy to pull some outfits together from what Birdy already had.
‘And I do actually have a 1920s flapper dress – it’s gorgeous, covered in silver bugle beads – which you can borrow and I can give you some tips on make-up.
’ She remembered herself and tried to rein in her enthusiasm. ‘You’ve probably got that all covered.’
‘I’d love any input from you. You’re the expert.’ Birdy might have been shamelessly buttering Phoebe up but Phoebe didn’t even care.
It was so nice to be appreciated for her quite limited skill set instead of being criticised for all her many failings.
‘I’m happy to help out,’ she said in an offhand way, like she wasn’t that bothered but Birdy beamed.
‘I would love that,’ she breathed. ‘Though I don’t know why you’re not more active on social media. You could have so many followers. Are you not tempted? Everyone I know wants to be a content creator.’
‘I absolutely don’t,’ Phoebe said firmly. She and Birdy had come this far so they could probably go a little further with no hard feelings. ‘Call me old-fashioned but it just feels a lot like showing off.’
Birdy didn’t take offence but laughed and clapped her hands.
An hour later when Phoebe and Coco had finally been allowed to leave with a selection of uneaten treats in a Tupperware container and a beaded cashmere cardigan because Birdy didn’t have the patience to repair the beading herself, Phoebe felt a warm glow that was nothing to do with a very fast walk to the stop so she wouldn’t miss her bus.
It was the cosy little feeling that comes from meeting a kindred spirit and making a new friend. Something that didn’t happen to Phoebe very often.
They’d barely been on the bus for five minutes when Phoebe’s phone chimed. As ever, her heart did a weird backflippy thing in the hope/dread that it might be from Freddy. But it never was.
It wasn’t this time either.
It was from Birdy.
Such a treat to spend some quality time together and eat lots of cake. So glad you came round and, I refuse to take no for an answer, we ARE going to be friends.
Phoebe pursed her lips but it was more to hide a smile than because she was bristling at Birdy’s peremptory tone.
I had a lovely time. Thank you for inviting me. Are you going to the Christmas Vintage Ball at the Bloomsbury Ballroom? If not, you should. I’ll text you the details.
Her phone chimed again.
Please do! I hear you on the whole showing off thing (brUTAL, btw) but I feel like Coco and Peggy might have a future as fashion-forward dog influencers. Let’s hatch a plan next time we see each other. Birdy xxx
The idea was ridiculous but not unappealing. It was a pity not to share Coco’s grace, beauty and style with the wider world.
I’ll get Coco’s people to call Peggy’s people , Phoebe messaged back. And she was still smiling even when someone with appalling body odour sat in the seat behind her.