With the poplin now in Ma’s capable sewing hands, Laura continues to work at Miss Bell’s so she can afford to pay for the perfect accessory….a stylish new poke bonnet. Of course, Miss Bell is happy to give Laura a job and before the school term has ended, she has earned herself ten yards of fabric. We’re talking brown poplin…from Chicago no less. For Laura, it’s time to get serious about some fashionable threads and we’re not talking about everyday lawn fabric (it’s so 1877, anyway). So as quickly as you can say, “Extreme Makeover,” Laura hightails it to Miss Bell’s to ask about a job in her dress making and millinery store in return for yard goods. She really did need a new summer dress for best, but after surrendering her teaching mazuma to help buy the family organ, she was now strapped for cash. These days, many teenage girls treat their mother’s fashion advice with disdain, even contempt but turn the clock back to 19th century De Smet, and we find our always obedient and sensible Laura realizing that her Ma’s comments about her clothes were right.
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