It was obvious that Yang and the other young ladies and wives who followed behind her had never been noticed by so many people.
In the countryside, everyone has to work in the fields. There is no pretentious rule that "women are not allowed to show their faces in public". Many women do business, open shops, and set up stalls outside to earn a living for their families.
But often, the first group of people in the spotlight are still men - they are the ones who worship the kitchen god and ancestors, and they are also the ones who make any major decisions. Often, women are like silent oxen, quietly working in the background, and they are dedicated.
But this time, Su Qingluan brought these women who were originally unknown behind the men into the sunlight.
There were about fifty or sixty people present, all staring at the garments held by the women, their eyes gleaming with excitement. Some of the more timid or shy ones, who had never experienced so much attention at once, flushed with nervousness. Others were too preoccupied with rubbing the hem of their robes or fiddling with their belt strings.
Seeing that these people were getting quite nervous, Su Qingluan stepped forward to smooth things over. "I said, you've all finished your work, right? You're all enjoying the fun here." With a half-smile, she raised her voice to the workers gathered there to watch the fun, "Didn't I just say that these outfits today are just samples? Find a few people to try them on!"
After this period of time, Su Qingluan's prestige in these people's hearts gradually accumulated. After she shouted this, most of them dared not continue to act rashly and went back to do what they were supposed to do. They would not come over until Su Qingluan asked someone to try on clothes.
However, there were a few brave young men and women who joked with Su Qingluan, "Shopkeeper Su, can we pick out some clothes?"
"Yeah, I like that light blue dress!"
"I want a cloak with fish playing with lotus leaves!"
Seeing them acting like they were reading out dishes, Su Qingluan teased them, "Are you ordering dishes? And you're even being picky! I'm telling you all, the cotton clothes we give you are just like the ones we gave you when we repaired the house. They're just for warmth, not style!"
In reality, they were just joking around. Farmers worked in the fields all day, never having a moment's rest. Therefore, their clothes were definitely not as ornate and flowing as those of the wealthy and idle.
Not having that much spare money is of course an important reason, but even for a family as wealthy as the Su family, except for buying one or two light and fancy dresses for celebrations such as the New Year, most of the time they prefer flexible and convenient styles.
As for the colors, most are gray, black, dark blue, and at most a light blue or light green. Most are based on colors that can withstand dirt, and even the slightly lighter ones are very ordinary, without too bright or elegant colors.
As for patterns and designs, they are even rarer - fabrics with printed and dyed patterns are often more expensive than solid-colored fabrics, and are not worth it for ordinary people.
If they have extra money, they would rather buy some food to fill their stomachs.
Not to mention Su Qingluan's usual images in men's clothing, even in occasions like today where there are no men's clothing, she wears a thick half-sleeve jacket with narrow sleeves and a straight-hem skirt.
And he was wearing thick cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles, not the kind of pointed-toe shoes that would trip him if he walked any faster.
As for head ornaments and pearls, it is even more impossible. Ordinary working women, even if they like to dress themselves up, usually will not buy hairpins with tassels for the convenience of movement. At most, they will buy a plain silver or wooden hairpin, with a few wild flowers or silk flowers on their heads, and that's it.
So when people say they want to choose a look or something, it’s mostly just a joke, just to join in the fun.
If it wasn't work-related, Su Qingluan wouldn't be very strict about such details. In her opinion, as long as one could do their job well, it didn't matter if they were gossiping or joking, as long as it wasn't too excessive.
So now, hearing that this person was joking, she also made a few remarks, and everyone would make a fuss and then disperse.
In fact, although the clothes are said to have different styles, there are actually only two types - men's and women's. However, the two are designed with different sizes to suit people of different body shapes.
Even the clothes that farmers needed for work were essentially looser and wider-sleeved than modern Western-style clothing. This had an advantage - the "size" of clothes did not have to be as clearly distinguished as it is today.
What's more, in ordinary families, which one doesn't have younger brothers and sisters picking up clothes from their older brothers and sisters to wear, and which older brothers and sisters picking up clothes passed down by their parents to wear?
As the saying goes, "Three years new, three years old, and three years of mending." Farmers rarely have clothes that "fit."
That being said, Yang clearly wasn't going to let this fool her. When the winter clothing samples were spread out, the crowd, which had already dispersed, couldn't help but look over. Then there were gasps and exclamations, as well as whispers of discussion.
It’s not that Yang and her sisters have such exquisite craftsmanship, nor is it that the fabric of the clothes is so expensive.
In fact, this batch of cloth all came from Aunt Yang. Aunt Yang was very honest and basically squeezed the profit of each piece of cloth to the lowest level, almost catching up with the wholesalers.
Su Qingluan's requirements for fabrics were that the style and color were left to the Yang family to decide, but the two most important points were: one was that the fabric had to be windproof, thick, and wear-resistant, and not easily damaged; the other was that it had to be affordable, cost-effective, without the premium of rare materials or big brands.
The reason why everyone was so amazed was that even though the materials were limited, Yang and her sisters used their skillful hands to make all the clothes as pleasing to the eye as possible.
There was not much difference in clothing between men and women in this era, especially for farmers, most of whom wore short, narrow-sleeved clothes, and this winter clothing was no exception.
However, when Yang first designed it, he still made a clear distinction between the two in terms of style and color - the man's upper body is dark blue, and the "trousers" below are black.
The women's tops are light blue, and the bottoms are also black, but the cuffs and trouser legs are embroidered with black and light gray piping, making them look more refined.
Upon closer inspection, the stitching on the winter coats of both men and women is very fine, and both the belts and the inner jackets are covered with a layer of cotton - the soft touch can be felt just by reaching out and touching it.
Those who dared to touch the fabric would call out, as if Columbus had discovered the New World: "Hey, come and see, there's cotton! There's cotton inside the belt too!"
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