This story has less of a fantastic element incorporated in it. They always say fashion can repeat itself and it most certainly did in this story. However, it truly conveys a deeper message than what is on the surface.
Clearly, this “A Change in Fashion” is about new, victorian-like dresses that are made that cover women’s bodies. There were a couple of small details I found to be interesting about this. First, the fashion designer who created this trend was a male- leaving me to believe that maybe a patriarchal society could (soon) be a part of the fantastic? Secondly, I found this quote on page 353 (in my e-book.)
Another dress, designed for the wife of a software CEO, rose three stories high and was attached to the back of the house by a covered walkway. A celebrated fashion journalist with a fondness for historical parallels compared these developments to the fanatical elaborations of coiffure in the late 18th century, when three-foot castles of hair rose on wire supports.”
I found it interesting that the women in this story were still ‘wives’ or ‘models’ and not the actual people in charge of making the designs. Especially in the last part of the story where women hesitated and “in the spirit of daring” came to a new style, which over time, became shorter and shorter. Leaving the end of this story to be a bit more empowering than the beginning.