Deep freeze (part 2)

... part 1

During the walk home I felt like a real lady, dressed to the nines and being eyed by strangers in the street. It wasn't cold outside, but it was still nice to feel all toasty inside my suit. With the integrated boots and gloves there was no place for a cold draft to get in. However, by the time I got home, comfortably warm had turned into stuffy. I was glad when Ela unlocked my suit and allowed me put on my regular clothes. Ela cleaned the suit, and hanged it next to my desk.
The next day, a Friday, I was so proud of wearing my new helpless suit to school. As the first girl in my class wearing a suit, I was happy with the attention I was getting, feeling like a lady, and even getting a special treatment from the school staff. Some of my friends were very we enthusiastic, and maybe even a bit jealous. Other girls, the more independent ones looked at me with almost a hint of contempt. There was certainly a stigma attached to wearing a suit. By some it was considered lady like and glamorous, by others it was considered subservient and elitist. Of my two closest friends Jane was very enthusiastic, and would ask me questions and keenly examine my suit up close. Jane couldn't wait to get her own, and as she told us, had been pestering her father for one. On the other hand Leigh started treating me with contempt as soon she saw me with my suit. She claimed we were going back hundreds of years, when men would control women's lives by any means possible, including the way they dressed.


Father was now more and more absent, traveling to Africa on business for long stretches of time. During the first trip father was away for more than a week, Ela encouraged me to wear the suit for the whole school week, from Monday to Friday. I was really proud of dressing like a lady, but it was beginning to feel more and more stifling every day. The lack of touch, the fact that the sleeves were set just so that raising my arms above my shoulders wasn't possible. Even the heels, which I loved wearing in the beginning, and are actually quite low by any standard, were beginning to tire my feet by the end of the week. It was one thing to wear heels for a night out, another to wear them daily and have your feet all day in the same immobile position, even if the boots were thickly padded. By Saturday I was glad to go back to my jeans, a sweater, and a thin indoor jacket. Father returned home on Tuesday night, and I wasted no time on talking to him on my displeasure of being forced by Ela to wear the suit all school week. He promised to talk to her. Imagine my surprise when on Wednesday morning I was approached by Ela carrying the suit. However, even before I could begin to protest, she explained, "your father spoke to me regarding your hesitation about wearing the suit. I explained to him that this is something temporary, and is greatly outweighed by the benefits of you wearing it, specially now that he is away from you as much. He feels it's safer if you wear it, and so do I. We did agree however that just one suit is not enough, so this afternoon after school we're going to go and get you fitted for two more suits. Now hurry up, we have to get you ready for school."
I came out of my room wearing the suit, defeat showing in my face. Father barely looked up from his news paper, "have a nice day at school, Ashley. Good luck at your fitting. Pick something pretty." I did not bother to respond, and just buried my face in the thick collar and hood.
That after noon, the fitting at Ms. Brightwood's started as I would have expected. Ela unlocked my suit and Jessica, one of Ms. Brightwood's assistant took me to the back to measure me. However, when  I came out of the fitting room, it was obviuos that things were different than the first time I had been at Ms. Brightwood's.
"Thanks,. Ms. Brightwood, we will stop by friday to pick up the suits. We appreciate your willingness to rush our order." Ela was basically done. So much for me picking something "pretty".


"So, what did 'I' pick? Mind telling me?"
"Ohh dear, don't make such a fuss, Ashley. Your father gave me free reign to pick what I deemed appropriate for your protection. You better behave, or we'll have to work on that attitude."


By friday my new suits were ready, and we went to pick them up.
The first suit, was basically a copy of my first suit, just in a dark brown color as opposed to black. The second suit that was brought out was a soft baby pink. I was appalled since it looked like it was for a little girl, it had fur trim around the hood, sleeves, and the top of the attached boots. It also had two big fur pompoms hanging from the hood. Ela was quite excited about the suit, "you'll look so cute wearing this one! It'll be perfect for your weekends." Jessica, the assistant helped me try on both suits, but then replaced them in their garment bags.
I was a bit surprised when a third suit was brought out. This last suit they brought out on was white, with gold toned hardware. As opposed to the other two suits, Ms. Brightwood herself fitted me. It had more zippers than my first suit. It had zippers on the sleeves, which Ms. Brightwood closed after pushing my hands into the gloves. With the zippers closed, the suit was snug on my wrists and forearms, and I would be unable to pull my hands out of the gloves. Another zipper allowed closing the kick pleat on the back of the apron of the suit. Ms. Brightwood dully noted that these zippers were locking, no surprises there... The suits had a zipper that reached much higher, just short of my nose. A side effect of this is that to fully zip the suit, I had to have the thick hood pulled up, as it was a snug fit. Once zipped up, only my eyes and nose were exposed. The thick hood severely limited my vision, and made it impossible to look to my side without turning my body. If tried to turn only my head, my face just got buried into thick padding of the hood. I had seen ladies wearing suits like this on the street, but I always thought they only wore it outside when cold. I was realizing that wearing a suit full time could prove to be quite irksome and stifling. I was finally dressed back in my regular black suit for our walk home. The suits were so bulky that would be delivered home.
During the weekend Ela "encouraged" me to wear the white suit. This included wearing the hood permanently, as it was the only way it could be worn to close the main zipper. I spent the whole weekend, suffocated by the collar of my suit. For the most part it was bearable, and I spent my weekend doing my usual activities, working on school tasks, texting with my friends and watching TV. While very irksome, I was finally getting used to wearing a suit! The biggest hassle was during meal times, as Ela had to unlock the suit to enable me to eat. Despite this she insisted it was good for me to get used to it.
I was actually glad once Monday came around and I was dressed again in my "regular" suits.
At school I was surprised to see Leigh wearing a suit. She did not seem very happy but for the most part stayed away from me. She mentioned that her father had ordered the suits a week, but she was dreading getting them. Once they finally arrived on Saturday she threw a tantrum, but ended being disciplined and wearing a suit throughout the weekend. She said her father had ordered three suits, and due to her tantrum, decided that she would start wearing a suit full time, without any time getting used to them.  Jane started paying more attention to Leigh, showing an almost fascination with her suit. Jane would "hug" Leigh, but it was mostly an excuse to run her hands up and down Leigh's suit. Jane was, in a somewhat perverse way, enjoying Leigh's predicament. I was also intrigued by the novelty. Her suit was similar to mine, in a dark green. However, the outer fabric of her suit seemed thicker, rougher. It also had thicker fur around the hood and the sleeves. Ever since I had started wearing suits, I started paying closer attention to the ladies wearing them, and two the suits themselves. Leigh's suit looked warmer than my suits, and it clearly looked like she hadn't gotten used to being locked in her suit. She looked distressed, pulling and tugging, trying to adjust her suit. I did not envy her.
The same week that Leigh got her suit, Jane announced proudly that her suits had been ordered, she was glowing with happiness and would talk nothing else. Next Monday Jane made her big appearance, wearing a very elegant suit in a deep burgundy color, with the integrated gloves and boots in black. It had gold colored zippers, including in the sleeves and in the kick pleat of the apron. She looked taller, and confessed that she had begged her father to allow her to get 3.5 inch heels. She said that she was still getting used to the high heels, and that here feet were sore, but it made her look more elegant. I felt a bit of jealousy, and asked her where she had ordered the suit from. She told me that it was from Ms. Brightwood's store, so I thought that such a color would be nice for a suit of my own.
Weeks passed and more girls in my class started wearing suits. This shouldn't have come as surprise, since it was an all female private school, and the practice was becoming more and more accepted in those social circles. However, no one seemed as excited about stepping into ladyhood as Jane. You could see it in her face how she enjoyed cuddling her face in the thick collar and hood of her suit. She was constantly smoothing the fabric of her suit. I don't know how much she was "feeling" given that her hands were completely covered in thick gloves, but she definitely enjoying it. Needless to say she was wearing one of her suits every day. So all three of us, Jane, Leigh, and myself entered the world of ladyhood, albeit with very different levels of enthusiasm.

... part 3