Stuart says, “Clothes make the man. In this case, perhaps, ‘make a man’.” He waits for appreciation of his wit, but Larrikan looks blank. “Never mind,” Stuart says, “We can fix that. Which clothes first? Work clothes?”
“Performing clothes,” answers Larrikan, “That’s how I will earn the coin for the rest.”
Stuart, taking measurements, comments, “Very practical. I might have a shirt that can be made to work, but you have a low waistline and the tail, which complicates pants. I don’t think hose will go well with your fur.”
“I don’ tthink they would work, either,” agrees Larrikan.
Stuart rummages in his racks of partially completed clothing, and finds several things, which he sets aside.
After several minutes of searching, Studar beckons Larrikan over, and says, “Let’s try these.” These begin with ah pair of what would be short pants for a bulky human boy, but which can be made to work as pants for Larrikan. Stuart makes marks on them with chalk, saying, “This material is better for working clothes, but the style is right.”
Shirts take longer, as there are more to try. Stuart keeps trying to get Larrikan’s opinion on styles, until he realizes Larrikan has no sense whatsoever of what human styles are, and that the fox does not see colors quite the same way humans do. Once he has figured this out, the selection goes faster, as Stuart uses his own judge of style and color and picks for Larrikan.
Luckily for Larrikan, Stuart has a good sense of style, and realizes the young dog fox has a natural sense of panache, and dresses the Shy Folk to take advantage of it.
The clothes Larrikan winds up with to perform in have a dark colored set of tailored pants, in dark blue, a dark rusty red, or black. The top is a light shirt, usually with long, loose sleeves, and a low-cut V neck, which can be tied with ribbons. Over the top of this is a short vest, usually in a dark color, but embroidered brightly with more colored ribbons as a sort of fringe down the front. Open, the vest does not obscure the front of the shirt.
Larrikan likes the ribbons. By leaving them long, he gets a swishing, colored fringe on his vest, which swishes in front of him as his tail does behind him.
Larrikan dances around the tailor’s shop for a while, grinning like an idiot. He says to Stuart, “This is good!”
Stuart and Larrikan discuss cost. Larrikan has enough that day for one set of pants, two shirts, two vests, and quite a bit of ribbon. He arranges to come back once a week for more pants and vests.
“What about the working clothes?” Stuart asks, “Any hard work will ruin these.”
“Ont thing at a time, “ Larrikan replies. He heads to the inn with new clothes and his fiddle to see how well it all works.