Adding new ideas

Shen Moxi took out a pen and wrote down her requirements, along with the name of the song-and-dance performance, planning to design something for her when she had time that evening.

"Sister Bai, give me your measurements. I'll make one for you first so you can try it on. If you think it works, I'll rush the rest for the others."

"Sure, that works." Sun Xibai gave her measurements. "How many days before I should come back?"

"I'll deliver it to you when it's ready. Ideally, you could perform over there so I can take a proper look and see whether the outfit works on you," Shen Moxi said after a moment's thought.

"That's fine. Moxi, you really have thought of everything. Thank you. Thank goodness I met you, or I'd still be worrying about it now." Sun Xibai took her hand and thanked her sincerely.

"You're too kind, Sister Bai. I'm very happy I can help you. It's given me even more confidence in this business."

Sun Xibai stood up. "I'll pick out a couple of outfits too. Your clothes look much better than the ones I bought. A lot of clothes at the department store supposedly come from the Capital, but their styles aren't as nice as yours."

"I design them myself, incorporating some folk influences from other regions, so they might be a little different from traditional designs," Shen Moxi explained as she walked beside her.

Sun Xibai picked out two dresses, a pair of high heels, and two pairs of stockings. "These two, then. When I wear them to work tomorrow, all my girlfriends will definitely come here to shop."

"Thank you so much, Sister Bai." Shen Moxi brought her a hat. "This hat is a gift for you, Sister Bai. It's a new sun hat I designed. It looks especially nice with a dress and heels."

Seeing how gracious Shen Moxi was, Sun Xibai accepted it with a smile, thinking that she was definitely making this friend. It was her first time meeting a friend she clicked with so well.

Sun Xibai paid, drew a red envelope, and put it in her bag, saying she would open it when she got home. After saying goodbye to Shen Moxi, she rode away on her bicycle.

After seeing Sun Xibai off, Shen Moxi noticed there weren't many customers in the shop and that Wang Xiaoxia, Shen Yuan, and Song Qi could manage. She took out several large sheets of white paper and her drawing tools, sat down at the table from earlier, and considered what other styles the shop needed.

Over the past few days, thanks to Xiao Tao, that little jack-of-all-trades, she had gained a slightly better understanding of this era.

It was the early eighties, and quite a few young women and men chased fashion trends from Europe and America, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Clothes featured in some of the most popular foreign or Hong Kong films would quickly become fashionable within a short time.

It was just like in later years. After some of the hottest television dramas aired, many imitations of their stylish, attractive outfits would appear, with listings on a certain online marketplace reading: "The same style worn by XX in the drama XX."

In the early eighties, many young people wore bell-bottoms paired with oversized sunglasses, thinking the outfit looked especially cool. These outlandish clothes were also a hallmark of the era.

Her shop didn't carry bell-bottoms at the moment. Summer was coming, and polyester-cotton fabric was too stuffy, but she could consider replacing it with other modern fabrics that breathed and draped well. As long as people found them comfortable to the touch and breathable, that would do.

She wrote down bell-bottoms on a sheet of paper, then added wide-leg trousers. Shen Moxi thought wide-leg trousers were very trendy now too and would be no less popular than bell-bottoms.

Batwing tops and trench coats were also among the most fashionable styles at present. Many people wore batwing tops with bell-bottoms to look trendy and fashionable.

The trench coats she had hung up at her stall a few days earlier had sold very well too. Trench coats would become the most popular everyday clothing not merely because they blocked the wind and kept people warm, but because some people wanted to look cool.

In later years, most people wore trench coats because they looked cool in them, transforming their whole appearance. A trench coat and sunglasses gave someone an unmistakably stylish look.

"For summer, I could design those very thin sun-protection trench coats. Batwing tops-I really hadn't thought of those." As she wrote, Shen Moxi considered what styles of batwing tops to design.

She could make short-sleeved batwing tops. They would look better on women.

Taking advantage of the lull in customers, Shen Moxi started designing batwing tops and bell-bottoms. She would design a few sun-protection trench coats too.

The bell-bottoms she wanted to design would have a slight flare, not the enormous flares people wore here that could double as brooms. Shen Moxi couldn't accept those. They were honestly far too ugly.

For the wide-leg trousers, she planned to make tailored styles using the kind of fabric known as Gedi weave in later years. Gedi-weave fabric felt smooth and sleek, was breathable and comfortable to wear, draped well, and gave an elegant look.

For the slightly flared wide-leg trousers, she would use polyester fabric. Though called polyester, it was actually a blend, generally 58% cotton, 37% new-type polyester fiber, and 5% polyurethane elastic fiber (spandex). This fabric was breathable and comfortable, needed no ironing after washing, didn't attract lint, and was excellent quality.

People now wouldn't know what the material was anyway. If they asked, she would say it was imported from Hong Kong and had a rather hard-to-remember name, but was cool, comfortable, and very breathable.

Look, what a perfect excuse. People couldn't possibly take the clothes all over Hong Kong to investigate just for that question. As long as they felt comfortable wearing them, that was enough. Who had that much energy to ask about anything else?

She designed several styles of slightly flared trousers: a basic style, one with a ring of irregular little lace trim around the hems, and another with a slight fishtail flare.

With every section measured according to the human body's golden ratio, they would certainly conceal excess flab and make the wearer look taller and slimmer. Paired with heels, they would definitely look especially elegant.

As for the wide-leg trousers, they would make the legs look long and straight, making them most suitable for women whose leg shape wasn't attractive. They suited any figure, whether tall, short, plump, or slim.

With a little sash-style decoration at the waistband and a batwing top, Shen Moxi thought that if she photographed the outfit for a magazine, it would surely spark another wave of trendy pairings, and her shop's popularity would rise considerably again later on.

She would use cotton-linen fabric for the batwing tops, designing several loose, artsy styles with shallow V-necks and round necks, adding little decorative touches such as embroidery.

Two or three hours passed as Shen Moxi sat writing and sketching. When Song Qi saw her, he poured her a glass of water, brought it over, and set it beside her.

Seeing the finished sketches to one side, he knew she was designing clothes again. He said gently, "Little girl, take a break and have some water. I've seen you drawing here for over two hours."

Shen Moxi finished the last little bit, set down her drawing pencil, and rolled her neck. "Ah, finally done. After Sister Bai left earlier, I kept thinking that the shop didn't have a full range of styles, so I thought I'd add some more and designed a few outfits that are popular right now."

She picked up the glass and took a long drink. "I can make a batch tonight. Once they're ready, I'll hang them up in a couple of days and see how they do before increasing production."

"Mm, today's sales revenue should be quite high. Look how much they like these clothes. You have a very good eye." Song Qi looked at her designs. They all looked better than what people outside were wearing.