£10 per Inch!

Dorothy Langdon has always been a bossy woman with an avid interest in horses and nothing else including fashion & men, for anyone that’s knows her she always seems to dressed in boots, baggy jodhpurs & a old jumper, her father is the local squire who dotes on her, her mother died when she was young and in the normal fatherly manner she has always had her way. Her brother Piers is a spendthrift, who always overspends his allowance, drinks, gambles & womanises too much, but Dorothy adores him & would forgive him anything.

Dorothy is married to David who she has known all her life, because he is the son of Dorothy's father’s head gardener. Dorothy only really railroaded him into marrying her, because she needed someone to escort to hunt balls & pony club dances, once that Piers had disappeared off upto London. David had started a small engineering firm some year’s back and had unbeknown to anyone had great financial success by patenting two innovative pressing tools and as such was a lot richer than anybody knew.

They lived in small house not far from her father’s estate with David and Dorothy leaving at 8 O’clock every weekday morning, he to his factory in Preston & she to the stables on the estate and more often than not David arrived back before Dorothy. Six days a week, Mrs Potter their housekeeper (who had once been a maid at her fathers house) came in, prepared their breakfasts, cleaned and cooked the evening meal. On the weekends Dorothy would rush off early to go to some horseshow or hunting and David would be left not knowing what time she would return, it was not that Dorothy was ignoring him she was just carrying on the lifestyle she had before they were married, the only real complaint that David had was that he never saw Dorothy out her riding gear, which consisted of riding boots, baggy jodhpurs, a baggy shirt, an old tie and except at shows a hacking jacket that had seen better days, sometimes he did wish that Dorothy would dress more fashionably.

David was happy enough, he had his work & his designs to keep him occupied and Dorothy was attentive enough when she eventually got home from her ‘horses’. The only thing that caused any sort of major rift between them was her brother, on two previous occasions Dorothy had come to David to ask for a loan of £100 for her brother to get him out of trouble on gambling debts. He had to try Dorothy as no one else would lend him money & his father had threatened to cut off his allowance if he was found to be gambling again. Richard had said on the second occasion that he would not lend any more money to him as Piers was a wastrel and he was not sending good money after bad.

On the third occasion her brother pleaded with Dorothy to ask for another £100, Dorothy asked David and he had immediately said "No" as he her brother had not paid back two previous 'loans'. Dorothy begged David & he said "No" again “I am not going to lend that loser of brother of yours any more money as I will never see a penny of it back, I am not paying out good money for no return”. Dorothy then started crying and begged once more. David eventually said he would think about, but he would have to get something out of the ‘loan’.

At work the next day he noticed again as he had often done in the past, how attractive his secretary looked, she was always smartly presented with a high heels, a suit with a pencil skirt & a trim waist. This gave him an idea & he returned home and put a proposition to Dorothy. If your brother can give me nothing in return, you can, if you want me to provide the money, I would like you to present yourself more fashionably and as such this is what I would like you to do: -

Hairdresser Weekly for Hair & Manicure

Make up every day.

Fashionable clothes consisting of pencil skirts & High heels and suitable underwear.

A new up to date evening dress & cocktail dress to replace the one she had had since she was 16.

These clothes to be worn at all times, when she was not riding.

Dorothy looked slightly shocked at these requests but was so desperate for the loan for her brother that she agreed. The money was duly paid and David waited for results & that week Dorothy assembled her new wardrobe.

Dorothy had no idea of what were currently fashionable clothes and went to the same shops that her mother had used before she had died. At the lingerie shops she asked for a fashionable girdle and was amazed at how restrictive & heavy it was, as was made out of stiff thick material. She definitely was not used to such restriction as she was always jumping on & off horses and felt that she could not consider anything like that. She asked the assistant for a much ‘lighter’ girdle and after some trials found something that was to her taste.

Dorothy then went off to a dress shop and tried on some new look suits with pencil skirts and found her bouncy schoolgirl stride was severely restricted and she felt totally ill at ease wearing it. She asked for a wider pencil skirt and eventually found something she felt at ease in. She asked to try on some evening dresses and the assistant brought at a form fitting mermaid tail gown which said was the latest fashion, Dorothy tried it on, the assistant commented that Dorothy really needed some more ‘structural’ underwear to show off the dress to its best. Dorothy found that the mermaid tail dress was worse than the pencil skirt & the first girdle as it was boned from breast to thigh & the skirt was skin tight to below the knee, she felt totally bound up, she quickly removed the dress & asked the assistant for something less restraining and after several attempts to induce Dorothy to wear something more fashionable eventually presented an evening dress that Dorothy felt happy in.

At the shoe shop she asked for high heels and the assistant brought a court shoe with a three and half inch narrow heel, she tried them on and stood up to walk, she very nearly fell as she found herself leaning forward and at the same time her ankles collapsing underneath her with only the limited support of narrow heel, Dorothy could not believe that anybody could actually walk in them and asked the assistant for something with a lower and more substantial heel. After a lot of trials she found a pair that she felt just about happy in and returned home.

That night David got home and could hear Dorothy in the bedroom.

“Down in a minute “, she called.

A few minutes later Dorothy came in to the living room. She was dressed in her new fashionable clothes, a straight skirt, shoes with 1" heels & a baggy blouse, she took off the skirt and blouse and he saw the lightweight elastic girdle with suspenders which she hardly noticed she was wearing, (and nor did her hips or waist). She then put on the evening dress, which fitted where it touched & looked more suitable for monk’s habit than to wear at a hunt ball. David was annoyed, but he said nothing, as Dorothy looked extremely pleased with her selections.

Dorothy stuck to the bargain though wearing the clothes & minimal makeup at all times when not riding.

One night a few months later Dorothy entered the living room and sheepishly asked David for another £100. David gave her a sideways glance but eventually agreed on condition that in return Dorothy must wear: -

Tight girdle to smooth out her hips & trim her waist.

A trim suit, with a long pencil skirt.

4" high heels.

Dorothy agrees, but again buys clothes that make the bargain but with the least discomfort for her. The girdle is not very tight and only smoothes out her waist & hips a little, the suit is not very trim, the pencil skirt is nearer to straight & ends at the knees & the shoes are nearly 4 “ heels but look like something his mother would wear with ‘clompy’ heels and rounded toes. David is livid but Dorothy argues that she has stuck by her side of the bargain and anyway the money has already been delivered. When he had calmed down David realised it was his own fault for not being precise in his requirements for Dorothy & anyway knowing Piers, he would bet that he would not have to wait long before he asked for money again and with that thought he decided to prepare a list of requirements for his wife’s clothing that she would not be able to wriggle out of.

True to form some months later Piers appeared at the stables. He has a black eye and a split lip. Piers, almost crying told Dorothy that unless he could come up with £500 to pay off a gambling debt within a month they were going to break one of his legs. So that evening Dorothy had to ask David again for £500, David was at first angry at Piers that he would dare to ask for so much and then at Dorothy that she would ask him so casually for such a large amount of money, he stormed out and grabbed a sheet of paper from his desk draw which he prepared a few weeks before, he hesitated for a moment as he calculated that Piers would ask for £100 as usual or £200 at the worst, but he was so angry at Dorothy & at Piers for thinking that £500 was so easy to ask for that he handed the sheet to Dorothy, saying “If you want the money you have to earn it. Dorothy read the paper: -

1) Fashionable clothes & makeup to be worn in morning before
David went to work

2) Dorothy must be back from the stables by 5pm everyday and
dressed before David returned home.

3) New wardrobe to include suits, hats, gloves, cocktail dresses & and an evening dress of the mermaid tail design.

4) Kick pleats in suits and dresses must come no higher than the knees, be back lined with material and be buttonable with the top two buttons always fastened.

5) Colours must be bright with first suit and cocktail dress being shocking pink.

6) Shoes must have pointed toes and heels of the new Italian ‘stiletto’ type.

7) Nightwear to be ultra feminine with lacy night gowns and peignoirs

8) The money will only be handed in one lump payment at a rate to be earned at the scale set below: -

£10 for each inch added Dorothy suit & cocktail dress skirt length

down to her calves.

£10 for each inch taken in at Dorothy’s skirt hem.

£10 for each inch added at Dorothy’s skirt hips to a maximum of 44”.

£10 for each inch taken in at Dorothy’s skirt waist.

£10 for each "1/4 inch added to Dorothy’s stiletto heels.

£10 for each inch added to Dorothy’s bust to a maximum of 45”.

The baseline for any of the measurements was to be Dorothy’s latest shoes & suit.

As she started to read the sheet of paper Richard grabbed it back and scribbled another line on the bottom. As he handed it back he said

“That bit is for Piers’ audacity, does he think money grows on tree’s?”

The new line said :-

8) Hair to be dyed blond and worn in a high bouffant style.

Dorothy read the sheet of paper twice with a feeling of astonishment and the looked up at David to plead for her brother, but his face was still angry and he said

“Well do you agree”

Dorothy thought for a moment, thinking that she would look ridiculous with blond hair, high heels and a tight skirt. Then she remembered her brother’s voice as he described how they were going to break his leg and with a sigh of resignation, reluctantly agreed. David then stormed out and went to bed.

The next morning when David had left for work (still in a temper), Dorothy put on her suit, found a tape measure and sat down with a sheet of paper. She measured from the hem of her skirt down to her calves, around the diameter of the hem, around her hips, around her waist and finally around her bosom. She carefully wrote down the results: -

Hem to calves: - 5”

Skirt hem: - 36”

Hips: - 37”

Waist : - 28”

Bosom: - 36”

She then measured around her calves and found them to 25”. She examined the list for some minutes wondering how to proceed and then decided to calculate the easiest requirement. Which was hem to calves.

Current hem to calves: - 5” x £10 = £50

She then moved onto the skirt hem and thought that with a kick pleat she could easily take the skirt hem in until it was halfway tight to her legs

Current skirt hem. - Calves: - (36” - 25”) = 11” / 2 = 5” x £10 = £50.

Next came the bosom, although the thought of a padded bra made her shudder she was beginning to realise that she needed all the help she could get, she considered a reasonable figure would be 40”.

40” padded bosom - current bosom = (40” - 36”) = 4” x £10 = £40.

She then thought next thing that looked easiest was the shoes and she decided that an extra inch was possible even with the stiletto heels which would take them to 5”, when she wrote it down it seem, they sounded awfully high, she already had problems at 4” even with the ‘chunky ‘heels.

1” = 4 x 1/4” = £40

She quickly added up the total and found it to be £190, she smiled happily and thought, “Nearly halfway there, I am doing well!”

Dorothy then looked back at David’s requirements to find the next option. “Only £310 to go”, she thought, “What’s next waist or hips”.

To raise £310 she would need 31” off her waist which was of course ridiculous, “What about the hips” she thought, a 5“ addition from 37” to 42” would not seem out the question with a padded girdle.

42” - 37” = 5” x £10 = £50

“OK”, she then thought, “I have got to have some off the waist, lets say 5”.

28” down to 23” = 5” x £10 = £50

She added up the total and found it to be £290. Staring at the figures she still found she had a long way to go. She re-jigged the figures adding another inch to the heels taking 3” off the skirt hem and with another shudder adding another 2” to the bosom, when she had added up the figures she was left with: -.

And came to £360.

Dorothy was by now not feeling so confident as far she could see she really had only a few options left to think about: -

1) Take more off the skirt hem circumference, it maybe possible but she could not see how she would be able to walk.

2) Add another inch to the heels and she definitely knew that she would not be able to walk.

3) Pad the bosom out more, Dorothy was very against this as at 36” she thought her bosom was big enough and at 42” it would be shocking.

4) More on the hips, Dorothy patted her hips and they all ready felt big enough and pretty solid, “Probably from all the riding I do” she thought.

5) More off the waist, she placed her hands around her waist and pushed and she felt her hands sink in at her middle.

Seeing some mileage in this option she went upstairs and fetched a strong 2” wide leather belt and removing her skirt and blouse she strapped it on breathed in as much as she could and started pulling. When she could pull no more, she buckled the belt and stood gasping, eventually she slowed her breathing and reached for the tape measure, thinking “This is not to bad it pinches a bit but it’s bearable“ Dorothy passed the tape measure around her deeply indented waist and found it to be 24” over the belt.

“Not bad for the first attempt, except for the pinching, and I should think that a proper corset will do a lot better job and not pinch because it would be lot wider”.

Item	Current	Change	Rate	Value
Bosom	36”	+6” to 42”	£10 / inch	60
Waist	28”	-5”to 23”	£10 / inch	50
Hips	37”	+5” to 42”	£10 / inch	50
Hem	36”	-5” to 31”	£10 / inch	50
Hem Length	Knee length	+5”	£10 / inch	50
Heels	4”	2” to 6”	£10 / 1/4 inch	80
				£340

Dorothy then totalled up the estimated changes and realised she would still need £160, but felt after getting in principle up to £340 it would not be that hard to get the rest. Feeling a lot better after this, Dorothy got dressed again to visit the shops.

Dorothy drove into Preston and first went to a lingerie shop, and outlined her requirements to one of the assistants, she told her that she would need a girdle that would take at least 5” off her waist and add at least 5” to her hips. The assistant pointed out as diplomatically as she could, that the flesh compressed from her waist would have to go somewhere. She went onto explain that some of it usually went downwards to the hips so a 5” addition would not require much work with such a great reduction at the waist, she summed up with,

“Madame would be advised to try something less drastic until Madame is more used to a tight girdle”.

Dorothy was insistent and so the assistant tutting slightly, took her measurements, looked slightly perplexed and went to talk to her manager, after some discussion, she went into the back and then returned with a long cardboard box, she then led Dorothy into a fitting room and asked her to undress, while she was undressing Dorothy watched aghast as the assistant unpacked from the box a long skin pink, rigid affair with what seemed miles of laces hanging down and a lot of metal, showing at the front. Dorothy stopped undressing and said

"I asked for a girdle, not a corset".

"This is a girdle Madame, we do not stock corsets and also a corset would have a lot more boning and a busk, this as you can see has only got hooks and eyes".

"But I only want an elastic corset, that will be far to heavy".

"I am afraid Madame, that an elastic girdle would never manage the reduction that you require, but if Madame wants an elastic girdle, I am sure we can accommodate her and it will smooth her your figure wonderfully, but I am afraid it will not give you the your required dimensions”

"No that's quite all right this will do, I must lose those inches, fo…or” “Dorothy thought quickly “…a special dress that I have ordered.

“Madame should know that this the heaviest girdle we stock and the waist compression you have asked for is about the maximum it is designed to take. “

While Dorothy undressed, the assistant busied herself opening the lacing on the 'girdle' and undoing the hooks. Dorothy looked in awe at the thick, flesh pink, heavy material, which looked as if it could stand-alone. She could also see the padded pockets added into the sides and buttocks. The assistant then said

"Now Madame, the fitting",

She stood in front of Dorothy and passed the opened 'girdle’ around Dorothy's waist with one hand, and grasped the other end, Dorothy shuddered as the cold metal of the hooks came into contact with her skin, the assistants quickly fastened the 13 hooks and eyes, and then stood back. Dorothy looked in horror at her reflection in the fitting room mirror, the horrible colour of the flesh pink girdle and it's thick material made her look bigger at the waist than before and even before it was tightened she could feel it holding her rigid from the bottom of her ribs to halfway down her thighs.

“If Madame would hold onto the handle, we will begin”.

Dorothy nervously grasped the sturdy handle, firmly attached to the fitting room wall. The assistant went behind her and started to tighten the laces, saying

"I think Madame should start off with perhaps a 3" inch reduction and build up to a 5" reduction over a period of weeks so that the girdle can settle to your body".

Dorothy considered this, but she feared Piers could not wait that long and replied,

"No the full 5" If you please"

The assistant raised her eyebrows a little and continued lacing. Dorothy could feel the tightness increasing which was quite pleasant at first, but as the lacing continued she felt the compression above, below and around her waist increasing to an extent that her breathing became labored and the pressure was becoming quite painful, it was not like the belt at home the pressure was over a larger area and it did not pinch, but everything was compressed leaving her with very little space to breath. Dorothy raised her body to try and get some relief and gasped

"Are we there yet!”

"Oh no Madame ", replied the assistant "another 2" yet and we haven’t laced down over your hips yet, do you want me to stop?”

Dorothy would have loved her to stop, but she realised she must persevere,

"No it’s alright carry on", she gasped.

The assistant continued and the pressure on her waist increased, at last the assistant said

"That’s about right. Now for the hips, just tighten the lacing the smooth everything out at the back and the front"

She then started pulling the lacing through lower down, Dorothy then started to feel the pressure increase around hips and thighs, pulling her stomach in to a washboard flatness, and what was worse the pressure also pushed upwards causing more pain around her compressed waist. The lacing continued until everything was smooth and she felt the pressure from her ribs to her now clamped together thighs. The assistant tied off the laces and wrapped the excess around the bottom of the girdle at the thigh.

Dorothy released the handle and staggered back as she reached for her waist, trying in vain to massage it through the thick material in an effort to gain some relief from the pain of the compression.

The assistant bent down and proceeded to tightly fasten the eight garters wide garters to Dorothy stockings, looking up to see Dorothy’s distress said,

“Would Madame like me to loosen her laces a little” the assistant asked a little to smugly for Dorothy’s liking.

Dorothy dropped her hands to her side, straightened up and drawing as deep a breath as the instrument of torture was going to turn and say no, except that the pressure was too much, and so she said

“Yes, if you could, just a little.”

The assistant loosened the lacing a little.

Dorothy welcomed the relief and when her breath returned said

“Thank you. Now do you sell padded brassieres?”

The assistant finished the garters resumed her composed expression and replied

“Yes Madame, what size do you require”.

Dorothy thought again of how ridiculous she would look, but still said,

“Something around 42” would be about right”.

This time the assistant’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly as she nodded and left the fitting room. Dorothy waited breathing quickie and shallowly and her hands crept back down to her waist searching for some relief from her still tight pink armour.

A few minutes later, the assistant returned with another mass of white solid looking material.

“This is the design, I would suggest Madame, It has wide straps to allow the bosom to be lifted and it is longline so that it will overlap the top of the girdle and as such will give Madame a smooth line from top to bottom”.

The heavy brassiere was fitted over Dorothy’s arms and down onto her breasts, the assistant went behind her and started to fasten the hooks, again Dorothy felt the compression as her breasts were lifted and top of her chest was pulled up. But she thought, as she looked down she decided that 42” was not so much, as her breasts looked not much bigger than in her normal brassiere, but the cups were slightly misshapen!

“And now the inflation, Madame, this brassiere is fitted with pockets to inflate the cups and give Madame the perfect line”.

And with that she bent forward and inserted a little tube into the left-hand cup and began to blow. The misshapen cup began to inflate until it became a perfect cone, and with every puff on the tube by the assistant Dorothy’s face fell further and further, “It is massive,” she thought. The assistant quickly inflated the right hand cup. Dorothy was almost in tears; the cups stood out from her chest at least an extra 4” sitting high on her chest like twin cannons, pointing slightly upwards, unnaturally rigid and blocking Dorothy’s normal view of her feet.

“There Madame, is that the affect you required”,

Dorothy quickly tried to hide her emotions and replied in a quiet voice

“Yes that will be fine, thankyou”.

“And now for the hips Madame,”

The assistant then bent and inflated pockets at the hips of the girdle, and after one measurement and a further inflation, stood and pronounced

“There Madame, exactly 42”, you are now 42-24-42.

Dorothy turned slowly and viewed her new shape for the first time in the full-length mirror on the fitting room wall. She had to admit that the new underwear did give her a very ‘new look’ shape that she had seen in papers & magazines, but the underwear looked and what was worse, felt like medieval armour. That was enough, there was no use worrying over it, Piers was relying on her, “Lets get on with it”, she thought.

Dorothy then tried to bend down towards the chair where her blouse and skirt lay, and found that the girdle would not let her, that and the tight longline brassiere held her rigid from thigh to nearly shoulder. Along with the rigidity, any attempt to bend increased the pressure and the pain at her still harshly compressed waist. Dorothy straightened and looked imploringly around at the assistant.

“Shall I help Madame to dress? ”,

Dorothy nodded and the assistant picked up Dorothy’s blouse and helped Dorothy into it, Dorothy buttoned it finding to her horror that it strained the buttons to near bursting over her newly expanded breasts, the assistant saying nothing picked up the skirt, bent down and opened it into a circle, so that she could step into it. The skirt, which was the one, brought on the last shopping expedition asked for by David, and had fitted her quite well, but now it was extremely tight at the hips and hung off her waist. The problem was quickly solved by the shop assistant, who pulled out a safety pin and tightened the waistband to Dorothy’s drastically reduced waist. Dorothy was glad to get her jacket back on which just had enough bagginess to disguise her new bosom.

Dorothy then thought about the assistant earlier comments and required targets and asked

“If this is your strongest girdle, would I need a corset to get a smaller waist”.

“I am afraid so Madame, my senior has advised me that we could not guarantee a girdle under any more strain than this”

“And if you do not sell corsets, could you suggest, a corsetiere, who could supply a corset that would allow a waist of say 18”

“I will ask, Madame”

While Dorothy wrote a cheque for the goods, (thinking that David would very soon have to put some money in her account if the cost of this fashionable underpinning was anything to go by) the assistant consulted with her senior and then wrote down some information and returned to Dorothy, handed her a piece of paper.

“Mrs Wilson, has said that you would probably have to go to London to find a corsetiere, that could supply a corset of that size for your figure”

Dorothy was a bit put out, London was so far away and she had never been.

Dorothy thanked her, and left the shop, finding the new experience of moving in such a tight girdle very trying, the tightness made her stand and walk in a totally new way, no slouching was allowed in the tight boned girdle and brassiere whose wide straps pulled her shoulders back. And walking, she found that her usual longish strides were severely restrained by tight skirt of the girdle pulling at her thighs and she eventually found that the only way to allow the her legs enough movement was to rotate her hips forward against the tightness of the girdle with each stride.

Dorothy’s next stop was a the dress shop that she had tried a few months ago, knowing that this time she would have to buy a suit even more ‘fashionable’ (ie longer & tighter) than the ones she had tried on the last time. As she walked in the assistant remembered her and angled her over towards the basic suits section away from the more ‘haute couture’ section of the shop. When Dorothy explained her needs the assistant soon took her back to the more fashionable section of the shop, and offered her a seat, Dorothy who was slightly out of breath, although she had not walked far, felt the need to sit. Remembering the last attempt at bending, she slowly lowered herself to the seat. As she tried to lean forward to balance, she felt the girdle fighting her. Dorothy persisted and although the pressure at her waist increased and the top of the girdle dug into her ribs she forced herself down to the chair. She immediately found the pain at her waist was unbearable and slid herself forward to the edge of the chair and leant back so that the pressure at her waist diminished slightly.

The assistant walked to the racks and came back with a brown suit with a long pencil skirt and a nipped waists which at first sight seemed to fit the requirements but the Dorothy remembered David’s proviso that colours must be bright and this suit was dark brown.

“Have you anything brighter”,

Dorothy asked, knowing that they would not stock shocking pink as David had asked for the first suit, but that she had to start with something ‘bright’. If the assistant was taken aback with the request she did not show it and soon returned with a mid-red suit with white piping. Dorothy was not sure at all about the colour, but asked to try it on. Dorothy forced herself back up & out of the chair and followed the assistant to a fitting room. Dorothy began to undress, self consciously turning her back on the assistant to hide her padded breasts. With perfect composure the assistant said nothing and showed no surprise at Dorothy’s ‘upholstery’ and helped her on with the suit.

When the suit was on, she viewed herself in the fitting room mirror, Dorothy saw that it did not quite meet around her bosom and was loose around her waist, the skirt was about right on her hips, but Dorothy was not sure about the fit at the calves.

“What is the hem circumference?” asked Dorothy, the assistant looked slightly surprised but measured the hem and replied “ 33 inches, Madame”.

Dorothy turned and examined the rear view and saw the kickpleat rose to well above the knees. After a few moments, she said,

“I have decided, I’ll take it, how long will it take to do the alterations?”

The assistant said “Not long Madame, we could deliver it by tomorrow afternoon”,

She called for the seamstress, who came and took some measurements. Dorothy added on the requirements that the kick pleat be lowered to her knees, the first two buttons to be sewn closed and the hem taken in by 2 inches. As she was undressing she made a decision and said,

“And take in the waist another 2”, if you would”.

Dorothy paid with another cheque and moved onto the towns biggest shoe shop, looking in the window, saw the same type of shoes that she had tried on before, with pointed toes, and dagger slim heels. With reservations she entered the shop and asked an assistant who walked with ease on a pair of at least 4” heels with and needle thin heels, for a pair of 6” stilettos in white.

“I am sorry Madame the highest we have are 5” and I am afraid we only have them in black”

Dorothy considered a moment, “I will try those please, in a size 6”

The assistant soon returned with a pair of black stilettos. The heels were the highest Dorothy had ever seen and the toes came to what looked like unwearable sharp points.

“I have brought you half a size down Madame, as high heels have to be worn tight or they will slip off.”

As Dorothy did not feel able to sit down on the shops very low chairs, she stood at the counter while the assistant fitted or more like forced the shoes onto the her feet. They were so tight, her toes were forced deep into the toe of each shoe, and she could feel them uncomfortably taking up the shape of the points, they had to be forced so that she could get her heel down into the shoe and as she lowered her foot down her sole was forced almost vertical, pulling her calve muscles taut and as her full weight came down on each foot the toes were forced even deeper into the points causing Dorothy to wince.

The only way Dorothy could stand was with her knees bent, if she tried to stand up straight she found herself thrown forward as her calf muscles would not stretch far enough. There was no way that she could walk out of the shop in them, she could hardly stand let alone walk.

“If this was 5 inches”, she thought, “How was she going to manage 6 inches”.

The shoes were wrapped and Dorothy paid. Still suffering with girdle, she returned home, driving her little car was a trial, as the girdle did not want to let her sit back in the seat. Mrs Potter had left and Dorothy ran inside or more like swivelled inside as fast as the girdle would let her, she wanted badly to get it off, the waist was bad enough, but the hips were really aching. She undressed quickly stepping out of the skirt, nearly ripping off the blouse and then sobbing with frustration as the laces refused to loosen enough so that she could unhook it. Eventually she managed and sank down on the bed rubbing her hips with relief.

Dorothy started to worry, if that was pain of just 3 hours of wear, what would it be like wearing it full time and even worse when she had to move up to a corset to achieve the waist required to get the £500.

She got up and put the horrid pink girdle away in a draw, but she could not completely forget about Piers and so she picked up the black patent shoes and forced them onto her stocking feet, and they pinched her toes even before she stood up. She tottered around the bedroom for ten minutes, her ankles wobbling violently as she tried to balance on the minute area of the toes and the spike heels. Eventually she gave up, her toes were in agony, her ankles and calves ached, these things are torture how can anyone wear them. There was no way she was going to manage the measurements required to get the money for Piers. She was just going to have to get the money out of David some other way, and with that she removed the distasteful padded bra, got dressed and went downstairs.

Later when David came home she kissed him and he responded.

“David, dear I have started to get the clothes you have asked for, but darling, they are not for me the girdle was agony, the shoes impossible to walk in and I looked ridiculous in a padded bra. Are you adamant that I have to go through with this”

“Of course not darling, if you don’t think you can do it, you don’t have to”

“Does that mean you will give me the money for Piers”

“No darling I did not say that, I just said that you did not have to do it.”

“But Piers is relying on me, I can’t let him down”

“Piers will rely on you for the rest of his life, if you help him again, he will be back in six months asking for more, you have to let him down or he will keep coming back”

“But you don’t understand, if he does not get £500 they will break his legs, I can’t just stand by and let that happen”

“And I can’t just let £500 go with out getting something for it”

“But the whole thing is impossible, nobody is the shape that your measurements demand”

Calmly David walked over to his desk and pulled out an old copy of the Reveille newspaper and opened it.

“Have a look at this”

Dorothy looked at the opened page; there was a picture of a spectacular platinum blonde, with an ample bosom and a wasp waist in a clinging sheath dress with a pencil skirt. The caption announced that the Rank starlet ‘Sabrina’ 44”, 17”, 42” had attended a film premiere in London

“OK, maybe, there are exceptions but that’s just a one off from fantasy world of show business, nobody in real life has a figure like that”

David returned to the desk, sorted through some papers and returned with two, one described an Ethel Granger who only had 36” bust and 38” hips but had an amazing 13” waist, another article had a picture of a local beauty queen who had 42”, 20”, 40” figure.

“All right, so people that shape do exist, but they are, they are ….”, Dorothy struggled for words, David assisted her.

“Curvaceous, alluring, attractive, shapely, desirable, pleasing to the eye…..”

“No, No, No, I mean ridiculous, everybody notice me, will stare at me”

“I hope people will stare”, said David, “They will stare because you will look devastating”

“But I will look so different than I do now, people will notice”

“They will only notice the improvement, nobody knows what shape you are under those baggy clothes you normally wear”

Dorothy at that moment had to admit grudgingly to herself, that her present suit had fitted over her enhanced bosom and hips, but only just.

“All right, you have a point “, said Dorothy ”But do I have to go quite as far as them”, indicating the women in the papers.

“As I said, it is up to you, you can do what you want”

“You are leaving me no options” shouted Dorothy “Don’t you realise, I can’t let Piers down”

The next morning Dorothy made a decision, after David had gone to work, she went upstairs, unlaced the ‘girdle’ wrapped it around herself, fastened the all the hooks and eyes and then she called Mrs Potter upstairs.

“Right Mrs Potter, you are going to lace this contraption for me until it is closed at the waist”

“I haven’t done anything like this since I used to help lace your gran up when I was a maid at the big house”

“And did my grandmother have a small waist”

“Oh yes, when she was laced that was, she was a big girl and needed some real pulling to get her down a neat waist”

“And just how neat was her waist”

“She could manage 18” at a push with her strongest corsets and a lot of pulling by me and her ladies maid”

A thought then occurred to Dorothy.

“Would any of grandmothers corsets, still be at the house”?

“I should think so, your family never throws anything away, they will probably be in one of those trunks in the attic”

“Will you go up there, and see what you can find”

Mrs Potter gave Dorothy a questioning look.

Dorothy sputtered out “I might need something for a fancy dress party”

“You just see what you can find, right lets get on with it”

Dorothy looked around for something to hang onto, they tried the bed, but it pulled away from the wall and pulling on the door handle just made the door come open. Eventually Dorothy ended up on the floor, with Mrs Potter foot pressing down on her bottom while she hauled up on the laces. On the floor with her face buried in the carpet Dorothy did not feel in the least dignified, as every haul on the laces was preceded by Mrs Potters foot trying to force her through the floor, and as the girdle tightened her breathing speeded up until every rapidly indrawn breath was dragging dust and fluff out of the bedroom carpet and she started coughing.

Dorothy urged Mrs Potter to continue until at last the girdle was closed and Dorothy could feel it holding her completely rigid from below her ribs to mid thigh, she slowly rolled over onto her back and tried to sit up, with no success, the girdle was so rigid that it just forced her flat again. Mrs Potter tried to help but Dorothy shooed her away, she rolled back onto her front and by straightening her arms she managed to get her body of floor in straight line from shoulders to her knees, she forced herself back, making the girdle bend enough so that she could push herself up to a kneeling position, red in the face and panting heavily she walked on her knees to the dressing table and hauled herself up to her feet, breathing rapidly.

She then found herself needing Mrs Potter’s help again and felt so embarrassed as Mrs Potter fitted both stockings and tightened the garters. Mrs Potter had to even help with her new shoes as there was no way she could bend down to put them on. She did wait for Mrs Potter to go downstairs before removing her normal bra and fitting the padded one and reinflating the breast pockets.