Clothes-Pegs

[from back of 2022 Dean Street Press trade paperback edition] Annabel Brown has taken a job in the sewing room at Bertna's, a high-end dressmaker, to help her family's finances. When one of the "mannequins" employed downstairs quits unexpectedly, Tania Petoff, the shop's owner, decides to try lovely Annabel in her place, to the chagrin of her catty fellow models. Annabel's improved status leads to tension in her close-knit family, then (following a wardrobe malfunction) she catches the eye of wealthy Lord David de Bett -- and the ire of the dreadful Honourable Octavia Glaye. How things work themselves out is as delicious a bit of frothy fun as one could well imagine.

[Susan Scarlett is a pen-name of noted children's author Noel Streatfield.] There are two really fun things about Clothes-Pegs. One is the behind-the-scenes peek at modeling and the process of couture-ish design, production and sales in the '30s. Noel had modeled for fashion houses and the scenes of Annabel learning and doing the work of a mannequin feel real -- you endure the boredom of endless fittings and the paralyzing fear of tripping, right along with her. The other really charming part is Annabel's parents. Ethel and George making ends (sometimes just barely) meet, coming to terms with their children's growing independence, facing health challenges, planning their garden, and, through it all, loving and supporting each other with a deep, quiet affection and pride, is a joy. Ethel, especially, is the heart of the book, as she is of the Brown family.

Annabel and her romance are ok. She's 17 and he's enough past college age that his mom is pressuring him to settle down, so it feels a little strange for him to be taking her out to cocktails and viewing her as an interesting companion. You certainly see very young heroines in light vintage fiction, but more in the '50s & '60s, I'd say, than this early. Annabel, for her part, is sweet, but kind of bland -- "not naturally imaginative" (199), etc. You have to wonder, with these young main characters, whether starry-eyed, unspoiled innocence is really enough to sustain a relationship, long term. At least, here, David is kind of vanilla himself, wealthy, and a basically nice guy, but without much in the way of ambition or accomplishment. The mean girls -- and there are several -- are appropriately (if ineffectually) bitchy and there's a strong female friendship to balance it out.

Overall, little substance, but good writing, great clothes, and truly lovely mom and pop. An effortless read for when you don't want to have to think.