Say Yes to the Dress

[Marzena Vaas]

JPR Design Studio
Cloud City, Bespin

Marzena walked into the creative space of JPR, the new home of Jean Paul’s design studio. It was nice to see him set up in Cloud City, and already finding great success in First Order space. She had told him all along that his couture line would do well here. It was also nice to be back to visit Bespin, as she had recently completed her move to Avalonia on Dosuun, the capital city of the First Order. Jean Paul’s assistant brought her into the work space, where there were fabric samples, pattern blocks, and plenty of dress forms – some of them were clad in dresses that were still in the process of being draped.

Today she was here for a very important reason, and she needed the assistance of her two favorite designers... and two of her closest friends. Her hands clasped together gently in front of her, and she walked over to a dress form, letting her eyes roam over the rough canvas. There were some style lines already taped onto this form, a sweetheart neckline, and some standard princess seams. It was the start of another glamorous gown.

“Marz, darling!” Jean Paul called out, his arms wide as he pulled the pop star into a hug. It had been a few weeks since the two had seen each other, and once their embrace had ended, he held her at arm’s length. “You’re bigger than you were last time.” He observed with a sharp eye, even with the loose fitting top that she was wearing.

“A little bit,” Marzena said, pulling away from him. She pressed the fabric of her top against her stomach. “It’s not really that big yet.”

“I wasn’t just talking about your stomach.” He said, turning his attention to his reflection on the mirrored wall. “Hips and bust too.”

Marzena merely sighed, knowing that he was right, and that the changes were only beginning. She crossed her arms and leaned against one of the large drafting tables. Her eyes found a rack full of lovely white satin, silk charmeuse, and delicate lace.

“[member="Claire Organa"] is on her way, yes?” Jean Paul asked, turning back to Marzena.

She nodded, smiling. Marzena had been looking forward to seeing Claire again, it was always a treat when she made her way to their end of the galaxy.

 

[Claire Organa]

Claire strode into the design workshop looking for Jean and for [member="Marzena Choi"] and the reasons she was here. There were rumors all over the fashion industry as to what Marzena had been up to.

Quite the change from the conversation that had on Alderaan some time ago. My my how things do change.

She had brought her sketch pad, and a sample book. There were a ton of questions, and she imagined they had some very interesting answers. Claire had not moved to put a shop on Cloud City yet, and she was hesitant now.

But there was cause to celebrate the One Sith had faded away. How odd though and the weeks spent on Coruscant building her business making contacts. Now she wanted a store there. She would have to work on that. Yes Cloud City and Coruscant, and Alderaan. How lovely that would all be.

She saw Jean and Marzena, "Hello, yes I finally made it!"

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Marzena and Jean Paul spun around in unison, both of them drawn in the direction of Claire’s voice. A wide smile found her face, and she quickly pulled [member="Claire Organa"] into a hug. “It’s so good to see you!” she beamed, stepping back to give Claire a bit of breathing room. But her personal space was then invaded again by Jean Paul; he too greeted her with a hug. A moment later there was a small spread of refreshments set out on one of the tables – caf, tea, sparkling water, and a small array of pastries. Marzena fixed a mug of herbal tea for herself, and drew in a breath of the lavender scented steam.

Jean Paul took a nibble of a scone, and turned to Marzena after he daintily dabbed the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “So, Marzena.” He started, lifting a cup of caf to take a sip. “Are you going to tell us why we’re here? Or do we need to start guessing?”

She smiled into her teacup; dark eyes glinted over the top at her two friends.

“Well, I have some big news.” Marzena started, unable to hide her excitement. “Field Marshal Vaas and I are engaged!” She held up her hand to show off the lovely diamond solitaire that he had given her. “I need a fabulous wedding dress and it needs to be... special.”

Jean Paul knew where this was going, evident by the grin he wore on his face.

“You see, Claire...” She said, turning towards her friend. “I’m pregnant.”

She paused to let this sink in. Marzena gave her stomach a gentle pat, and then took a sip of tea.

“We’re going to get married before the baby comes, and hopefully before I’m huge. You’ll help me, won’t you?” Marzena asked, looking back and forth between the two designers.

 

[Claire Organa]

[member="Marzena Choi"]

"Field Marshall Vass, Marzena I'm excited for you but who the feth is that?" She smiled and hugged her friend but wow was she ever just caught off guard. Last time they talked she mentioned nothing about a man, and

Claire looked down at Marzena's tummy, and baby...

"not a design nightmare just did the same thing for my cousin Faith not long ago, we can design anything and still look fabulous" She hugged her again oh gosh this was exciting.

Huge, "is it more than one baby?" twins? triplets? oh my...Claire smiled again.

 

[Marzena Vaas]

For a moment, Marzena was completely shocked that [member="Claire Organa"] did not know who the Field Marshal was. But then she remembered that Claire was not from here, she was not a First Order loyalist. She supposed that she could let this one slide, and she laughed softly.

“Oh, right... I keep forgetting that you’ve never met him.”

She pulled out her datapad, and slid her finger along the screen. A smile grew on her face as she presented the screen to Claire, displaying a picture of the Field Marshal.

“He’s cute, isn’t he?” She giggled like a school girl, unable to contain herself. Jean Paul rolled his eyes. Marzena cleared her throat and continued, a bit more composed this time. “He is a very important man, a member of First Order high command. You’ll meet him at the wedding.” She said, nodding.

“Ms. Organa, this is a design nightmare.” Jean Paul interrupted, “I mean – we don’t even know how big she will be. When is the wedding, do you have a date set?”

“We don’t, but I can’t imagine that we’ll wait too long. And there’s only one baby, I’m not that big.”

Her eyes turned to Claire, and she pouted. Marzena placed her hands on the table and sighed slightly. At least Claire had already designed such a dress. After all, pregnant or not, all women want to feel beautiful on their wedding day. She would not get to wear the slim, form fitting style that she liked... but she was still expecting to look fabulous.

“So. What kind of dress did your cousin wear? Do you have pictures?”

 

[Claire Organa]

"Faith's was a simple dress actually, nothing like what I wanted to put her into it had some room in the middle with the type of waist line that could be moved into an empire waist if needed."

Claire pulled the picture of the dress, front and back. "Course I was on hand at every turn to adjust the dress if need be, and then she wore a veil of antique lace" She looked at Marzena and wondered with her frame she might look like she swallowed a ball.

Oh my, yep...this will be interesting. "this is what's on the market right now...we can work with the structure and how much glitz you want on it, cause you have to consider the weight of the dress between fabric and beading, in conjunction with being pregnant"

She smiled and waited to see what she said.

[member="Marzena Choi"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Marzena leaned to the side to glance at the pictures [member="Claire Organa"] presented to her. “Very pretty,” She said with a nod, looking at the dress that Faith Organa had worn down the aisle. “How far along was she at the wedding... like, was she very big?” The pop star tilted her head to the side, her index finger tapping along her chin.

Jean Paul came around to see the second image that Claire displayed, a peek at what was currently on the market. He placed a hand on his hip, glancing sidelong at Marzena, his brows raised. The designer was silently trying to picture his friend in such a large ball gown. “Hmm, I don’t see Marzena wearing something like this. She would simply be lost in such a full skirt.”

“The top is very nice; it has a bit of sparkle.” Marzena added, with a bit of a sigh.

It was clear to Jean Paul that Marzena was beginning to get lost in the details. He grabbed a sketch pad, pencil and leaned over the table for a moment. His skilled hand was quickly put to work, drawing out flowing lines to make a silhouette of a dress.

“Chiffon,” he started, “Layers and layers of the lightest chiffon. Airy, breezy like a summer cloud. We can add some details to give it a bit of interest down the front, perhaps a light cascade. Enough to cover your baby bump, but keep your figure looking slim. Provided that you do not gain a ton of weight.”

He cast a glance at Marzena over his glasses, and she immediately narrowed her eyes at him. Now was most certainly not a good time to comment further about her weight. She was very sensitive.

“Ok, I do like that idea. What do you think, Claire?”

[member="Claire Organa"]

 

[Claire Organa]

[member="Marzena Choi"]

"I think you need to keep a seamstress on staff because every pregnancy is different, and Faith was carrying twins. She was...far enough along." Claire looked at Jean's sketch, "I think you will look fluffy and everyone will know you're trying to hide something. You need something....more you..and...not something that makes you bigger than you are"

Claire thought about it, "Ok so...if we go with an empire waist that brings it up under your bodice, it can be let out as you progress.. course now how much of a baby bump do you want to show? None, some, that would help, and are you going to go with white, or another color"

Claire smiled, it wasn't unheard of for her to wear white. White was purity going into the relationship not the taboo it had been before..yeah..she wasn't going to think on that either right now.

 

[Marzena Vaas]

“Twins?” Marzena echoed, heaving a sigh. “My goodness.”

She glanced down at her own stomach, placing her hands there for a moment. The singer could not even imagine carrying two at the same time. Marzena nodded as Claire spoke, she had certainly made some great points. Needless to say, she most certainly did not want to look any bigger than she really was and she did not want to look...fluffy.

Marzena pulled Jean Paul’s note pad towards her, flipped to a new page, and tapped the pencil against the blank surface. There was an image in her mind of the perfect dress. However, she just did not know how to translate it into a drawing. She could make doodles, but in no way convey her thoughts the way that Claire or Jean Paul could. Instead, she began to make a list...

“Empire waist, I like that idea.” She started, speaking aloud for the two designers. “It’s a very forgiving silhouette.”

Next – how much baby bump did she want to show? She wasn’t even sure.

“Hmm, I don’t know if I will even be able to hide it by then. But I don’t want to look like I’m in a maternity gown, even though I will be. Maybe just a minimal amount, but not so much that people will really notice? Perhaps we ought to have some lace details at the top of the dress? Draw their eyes up and away?”

[member="Claire Organa"]

 

[Claire Organa]

"Yes we want to draw their eyes to your face, and to the intricacies of the gown....or...we could cheat. There us technology used by bounty hunters that allows them to lookl ike other people. Maybe we need to take a holo of Marzena in the gown she wants right now..and have her wear the device during the wedding to hide the pregnancy. I have this feeling " She looked at Marzena, "that hiding it during the wedding might be a good idea. Its called a holographic disguise matrix."

Claire looked from one to the other, "what do you think?"

Ok it was a bit devious but Marzena was a friend and she wanted to give her some ease of mind,

[member="Marzena Choi"]

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Marzena tapped the pencil against the pad of paper, making little dots here and there. She tilted her head one way, and then the other, deep in thought. Slowly, she wandered over to the rack of fabric, letting her fingertips slide along a side of silk.

“That’s an interesting idea, but I don’t want people to think I’m being deceptive.” She sighed. “Besides, there are some people that already know.” Marzena shrugged, “Everyone will know sooner or later.”

She approached a standard dress form, placed her hands on the shoulders, and held it at arm’s length. Marzena gave the form a quick spin, and looked over towards Jean Paul. He was currently perched on a stool, sipping some tea, watching her curiously.

“Can’t you like, add a bit of padding to the tummy?” She gave the dress form a pat, “Work around that, and make adjustments? You can always start a bit bigger, and we can take it in later.”

He offered a slight nod, to signal that it could be done.

“Alright, just come up with something basic to start with.” She said, meandering back to her seat. It was time to change the subject for now. “So, Claire. Have you heard that Kingdom Group is opening a mall here in Cloud City? If you want to set up shop here, we’ll get you a space – for sure.”

[member="Claire Organa"]