Posh Frocks & Peacocks - Tracie Podger

1

“Well, what do you think?” I asked, twirling in my bedroom. My fluffy socks had allowed me to skate over the wooden floor, trailing my dress behind.

“Oh, Lizzie, it’s gorgeous,” Maggie said.

I was trying on my wedding dress for her. A month prior, I’d travelled to Glasgow with Joe just to have a look at some outfits. I had no intention of buying a wedding dress, let alone a vintage cream one, but I spotted the dress and I just couldn’t get it out of my mind. Joe and I had visited various stores, some dedicated to wedding attire and some department stores. We’d pulled ball gowns and cocktail dresses from rails, in an array of colours. Of course, I loved them all but in the corner of a small boutique I caught the tulle and beaded arm of a vintage dress, probably dating from the nineteen-forties. I pulled it from the rail and held it up.

“Oh, Lizzie, that’s amazing,” Joe said, placing his hands over his mouth. The more he aged, the more dramatic he became about everything.

I heard a voice say, “That was my grandmother’s.” I turned to see the shop assistant, who I later found out was the owner, walking towards us.

“Wow, I’m sorry, I’ll put it back,” I said.

She shook her head. “It’s for sale. She had three weddings, three wedding dresses,” she said and then laughed.

“Was this the first or the last?” Joe asked. “I mean we don’t want something unlucky,” he added.

“That was the last and she married the love of her life in that one. In fact…” she laughed, “she married the same man three times.”

I stared at her, frowning, even after receiving a slap from Joe to stop crinkling my forehead.

“She married him back during the war before he went off to fight. She thought he was lost in battle but he came home a year after, so she married him again. Sadly, they divorced; I guess the stress just got too much during those times. Many years later, and I mean, nearly twenty years, they met by chance, fell in love, and married again.”

“What a wonderful story,” I said.

“Is that true?” Joe asked at the same time as I spoke.

“It is, and yes, it’s all documented. I have photographs of her in that dress. It wasn’t new when she wore it; I believe it had belonged to an aunt or something. Anyway, she’s still alive but she wants to sell it. She thinks it needs an outing and a proper wedding.”

“Can I try it on?” I asked. The dress was super but the story made it much better.

It didn’t fit, of course. It was a little tight and much too long. However, one of the great things about a vintage outfit was there’s often spare material. It could be let out just a little so my boobs didn’t look like they were about to burst out. As for the length, Daniela, as she’d introduced herself, could quite easily deal with that. She told me she’d qualified as a dressmaker at college and it had always been her dream to open a little boutique of vintage clothes.

“What do you think?” I asked Joe. He cocked his head to one side, walked back and forth and reminded me of Dave when we’d taken Verity’s paintings to him. “What’s that?” he said, picking up the train.

“A peacock, embroidered in,” Daniela said.

Joe and I looked at each other. It was fate. “It was tradition to add something to the dress back then, a nod to the groom. I can do that for you as well, if you want,” she added.

Joe and I spent the past week investigating peacocks. Initially, we wanted to just hire them but it didn’t seem possible. Eventually, Joe came across a rescue centre. We hadn’t told Ronan, who had forbade any more animals after the drama llama, the headbutting goat, Max with his wonky leg, Piggy, the pig with rickets, and two chickens that were more violent than all of them put together.

We had made a promise though. Well, we’d told the story of our wedding to Mrs. Sharpe and peacocks had featured, so I reasoned when I agreed to have a home visit with the prospect of taking a peacock and peahen.

As I smoothed down the tulle of the dress I sighed. “I’d like to buy this,” I said, quietly. Even if it didn’t end up being the dress I wore at the ceremony, I’d certainly wear it for the reception.

Daniela