4 Dressing up

"Great." Theodore practically jumped off from the cart. He was looking forward to walking through town. His arse still hurt, so the ride to town had not been pleasant. Then again, walking down the hill from the castle would also be a pain.

"T'is Miss Waverly. She is known to dress the best 'off the town. Nothin' much compared to yer' nobles, but plenty good for us peasants." Barn introduced Miss Waverly who had come out of the store to meet them. He particularly glared at captain Ward when he said the last part. It seemed the pair wouldn't get along easily.

"Miss Waverly, I present Theodore Thompson. The new lord 'round here." He also introduced Theodore to miss Waverly. "The rest o' the bunch are his esteemed knights." He said, accentuating the words esteemed knights sarcastically.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, m'lord. What can this humble tailor do for you?" Miss Waverly disregarded the quibbling Barn and focused on Theodore.

"I'd like to have you dress me in casual clothes that make me unassuming. I would like to be unrecognisable as I tour through town. Barn told me you were the best choice for my purposes." Theodore quickly explained.

"So, you would like to look like a peasant?" Miss Waverly asked, her eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"Stop saying the word peasant, will ya. It pisses me off." Barn interjected as he momentarily stopped quibbling with captain Ward.

"Correct, Miss Waverly. Though, like Barn, I would also rather not you use the word peasant. It leaves a negative taste in my mouth. I prefer to see people as individuals. Each individual is worth respecting, regardless of their standing or occupation. They all add to our community. Perhaps other nobles have different views, but I'm not a traditional noble." Theodore decided to make his 21st-century stance known.

He did not like to look down on anyone and would like to pass this hurdle as quick as possible. In order to have his people work productively, they had to feel valued and respected. This was a core belief in 21st-century businesses.

His impromptu speech got all eyes on him.

"Even your lord agrees with me, chump." Barn smiled broadly at Captain Ward. It was a complete victory! Perhaps many years down the line, this squabble would be retold as an epic tale.

Captain Ward simply ignored Barn and wisely kept his words locked in his mouth. Cursing the 'peasant' would not do any good.

Theodore wryly smiled "Now that's out of the way, can we move on to getting me dressed?"

"Of course m' lord." Miss Waverly smiled. "I'd be happy to help his lordship. Please follow me inside of my humble shop." She opened the door and made her way inside. She was followed by Barn, who held the door for the rest to enter, still broadly smiling as captain Ward made his way inside.

"I have a great variety of woollen garments. Some linnen as well. I also have a great variety of colours available. The dye has been mixed with mordant so the colour is also durable. The ones on the right wall are the most expensive whilst the rest are rather common and their prices vary little." She explained.

"Why are the ones on the wall more expensive?" Theodore asked inquisitively.

"They are dyed longer and also have more expensive ingredients mixed in the dye. Some of them also have a more elaborate colour scheme." She explained quickly.

"Hmm. I understand. Please sort out an outfit that looks unassuming and that matched what is worn by most people around here." Theodore gave her his instructions whilst he inspected the clothing in the store.

She quickly went to work and created three sets of clothing. One blue, one brown and one grey. She explained "The grey is the natural colour of wool. The blue is a cheap dye because it's made from woad - a common plant even around here. The last is brown which is easily made by tannins. These are our cheapest garments. They should also fit m'lord his purposes." Miss Waverly explained, encouraged by Theodore's attentive gaze.

Theodore appreciated miss Waverly her attentiveness. She hadn't tried to upsell him or make a profit on him. He was also happy with the explanation. Happy to learn something new he also readily answered "I will take the blue outfit then. Though perhaps more notable, it is my favourite colour. Since it is readily available I don't think people will be suspicious of me." He said and took his pouch in order to pay for the garment.

"That would be twenty Gulden m'lord." She said whilst putting back the other two outfits.

Theodore then took two 10 Gulden notes and added a Daalder to it. "You can have the rest for your great service, miss Waverly." He smiled as he put the money on the counter.

Gulden was the national currency in the kingdom. It was available in various coins and notes. The smallest denomination was 25 cents. The 25 cent coin was also known as a quarter.

You could pay with, in ascending order, twenty-five cents, fifty cents ( half a gulden), a gulden (the equivalent of a hundred cents), a daalder (the equivalent of 250 cents), five Gulden, Ten Gulden, twenty Gulden and fifty Gulden. Five, Ten, Twenty and fifty Gulden were banknotes. Each coin and banknote had a specific design with a mark of the royal family on it. Coins were made up to five Gulden.

For big transactions, gold or other valuables were used to offset the debt. Silver and gold bars weighing 1kg were the standard in these large transactions. However, precious stones or promised labour could also be used to trade.

"Alright, with that settled, I will change here. Mr Ward, please have one of your men bring my clothes to the castle. Once I'm dressed we will be making our way through town on feet."

Ward acknowledged Theodore's words and instructed the smallest of his two companions to ready the cart and bring Theodore's clothes back to the castle once Theodore finished dressing.

[Writer's comment: That's an awful lot of Theodore's in one sentence]

Theodore quickly got dressed in his 'plain' clothes and handed his noble's attire off. He then said his farewell to miss Waverly and walked out of the door, followed by Barn, two knights in disguise and one clerk - that already looked like a commoner anyways.

"Alright, let's hit the streets! We'll visit the farms later as it's still early. I would like to start with the local industries, carpenters, smithies, weavers and the like. We'll also have to schedule a visit to the mountains on a later date. Barn, you're up! " Theodore smiled and patted his guide on his back.