“What do you mean, Vivienne wants us to meet her on the roof?” asked Julia as she and Maddy headed out of Cruikshanks Administration office one Friday evening. “She never takes clothes outside.”

“Well today she is. ” said Maddy. “She and Becky are fetching the clothes now.”

They were soon joined by Becky’s friends Sharon and Sarah. “What’s going on?” asked Sharon. “Isn’t it a bit cold to be taking pictures up here?”

Just then Vivienne and Becky arrived wheeling a clothes rack. “Don’t worry girls.” she said, overhearing the last part of the conversation. “It’s coats.”

“But why here?” persisted Julia.

“I couldn’t get the studio for Sunday,” Vivienne explained. “We won’t be disturbed up here. Midge is busy and I didn’ t want that Dennis here so Becky and I will take the photos today. She went on to explain that the coats had been found during a recent stocktake and appeared to be samples sent before Georgie became the General Manager. “There are quite a few, probably enough for us to try on two each. So let’s get on with it shall we?”

The Showrunner:

Vivienne

The Models:

• Becky
• Julia
• Maddy
• Sarah
• Sharon

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The Fashions:

“My goodness there are a lot of red coats here.” remarked Sarah “It must have been trending that year.”

Maddy and Julia both chose red coats and Vivienne gave the remaining one to Sharon to try on. Becky took a blue coat as blue is her favourite colour and Sarah took a grey suede coat.

Maddy liked her red evening coat which was made of a shiny fabric and had a huge fake fur collar. Vivienne produced some knee high boots which Maddy had some trouble putting on.

Julia’s coat had a smart black collar and a leather belt.

Sharon’s coat which also featured black trim was much shorter and had deep pockets.

Becky’s royal blue coat had a fake sheepskin collar.

Sarah’s coat also had a fur trimmed collar.

Vivienne took the remaining coat herself. It was brown corduroy with fake fur trim. Then she called the girls over to the clothes rack to pick a jacket each. “Sorry I have to go,” said Maddy. “I have a date.”

Vivienne said that was fine but suggested that they take the group photo before she went.

Becky chose blue again, this time a pale blue jacket with a white fake fur collar. Sarah chose a black vinyl look jacket. “I think that was meant to have a belt Sarah but I am afraid I couldn’t find it.” Vivienne told her. Sharon picked a bright yellow ski jacket but had immense trouble getting her hands through the thick sleeve lining.

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Julia took a red jacket which she liked but thought rather bulky. “Does this jacket make me look fat?” she asked Vivienne. Vivienne assured her that it looked very stylish but she still insisted on having a second photograph taken.

There was one coat left, another brown one which Vivienne tried on. It was quite cosy in the chill of the early evening up on Cruikshank’s roof.

• A note about the clothes. These coats are all generic brands, most are unmarked or just “Made in China”. The exceptions are Sharon’s yellow jacket which has the Simba mark on it and Becky’s blue jacket which is tagged Barbie. Most date from the 1980s and 90s and were either bought new or came on dolls or in lots of clothes that were bought in our early collecting days.