fifteen. It was a profound shock to the whole family, and Hollyfound herself assuming the role of family clown in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood at the silent dinner table or on family outings. Between the ages of fifteen and nineteen, she dated a few unsuitable boys, learned to play bass (badly) and joined an all-girl metal band, got her lip and eyebrow pierced and dyed her hair some unfortunate colours. At sixteen, she started sewing her own clothes, and horrified her mother with her outlandish and experimental outfits. It wasnât as if she was properly crazy or even very wild ⦠she was just a rather exotic bloom in her very domestic family bouquet. A tiger lily among the carnations. She was tall, with dark auburn curly hair and loads of freckles, and even as a teenager, she had an indefinable but very real sex appeal.
She was profoundly uninterested in school. She just didnât see the point, and when she could be bothered to participate in class, asked difficult and unanswerable questions. After Mirandaâs quiet path through the school, Holly was something of a shock to the teachers, and they didnât know what to make of her. She got average GCSEs and even more average A levels, certainly not good enough to get her into university.
She wasnât sure what she wanted to do when she finished school, so she did a foundation course in dressmaking. Once sheâd finished that, she still didnât have a career path in mind, so she decided to go travelling. Her plan was to start in South Africa and get a job and earn some money so she could travel up through the African continent. Instead, she ended up flying into Johannesburg and staying a decade.
Johannesburg was a vibrant, exciting city, fast-moving and brash and full of opportunity, if you were brave andready to work hard. Holly had no real skills other than her dressmaking and no work permit, but she managed to get a job in a small independent evening-wear shop in one of the big shopping malls, where the manager was prepared to turn a blind eye to her lack of paperwork because she had a nice English accent and was pretty and personable. There she sold ridiculously overpriced evening gowns to society ladies with more money than sense.
One day a glamorous but tiny woman swept into the shop, announcing she had a gala to attend that evening and she had nothing to wear. Holly gathered up an armful of dresses in the right size, but the woman swept them all aside and fell on a sheer tangerine floor-length dress with an asymmetrical neckline that left one shoulder bare.
âThatâs it.â
âIâm worried itâll be too long for you,â Holly said tentatively. âEven with very high shoes â¦â
âLet me try it on,â said the woman. Sure enough, Holly was right. The grown trailed on the floor, and it was a little loose over her breasts. The colour was great against her chocolate skin, but the dress just didnât fit.
âShall we look for something else, maybe?â Holly ventured.
âI donât like anything else,â said the woman, like a petulant child. âI like this dress. Canât you fix it?â
âBefore tonight?â said Holly disbelievingly, but the woman just looked at her, as if the request was not at all unreasonable. They sent their alterations out to a woman who worked nearby, and the turnaround time was usually about a week. However, the dress was one of the most expensive in the shop, and Holly knew if she sold it, the commission wouldmake a sizeable difference in her pay-cheque at the end of the month.
The manager was out, and luckily things were quiet, so Holly ducked behind the counter and collected a box of pins and some tailorâs chalk. She pinned up the hem and made two tiny darts in the bust. The asymmetrical neckline made this even trickier, but she did it well. Carefully, she helped the woman to slip out of it and sent her off to finish
She was profoundly uninterested in school. She just didnât see the point, and when she could be bothered to participate in class, asked difficult and unanswerable questions. After Mirandaâs quiet path through the school, Holly was something of a shock to the teachers, and they didnât know what to make of her. She got average GCSEs and even more average A levels, certainly not good enough to get her into university.
She wasnât sure what she wanted to do when she finished school, so she did a foundation course in dressmaking. Once sheâd finished that, she still didnât have a career path in mind, so she decided to go travelling. Her plan was to start in South Africa and get a job and earn some money so she could travel up through the African continent. Instead, she ended up flying into Johannesburg and staying a decade.
Johannesburg was a vibrant, exciting city, fast-moving and brash and full of opportunity, if you were brave andready to work hard. Holly had no real skills other than her dressmaking and no work permit, but she managed to get a job in a small independent evening-wear shop in one of the big shopping malls, where the manager was prepared to turn a blind eye to her lack of paperwork because she had a nice English accent and was pretty and personable. There she sold ridiculously overpriced evening gowns to society ladies with more money than sense.
One day a glamorous but tiny woman swept into the shop, announcing she had a gala to attend that evening and she had nothing to wear. Holly gathered up an armful of dresses in the right size, but the woman swept them all aside and fell on a sheer tangerine floor-length dress with an asymmetrical neckline that left one shoulder bare.
âThatâs it.â
âIâm worried itâll be too long for you,â Holly said tentatively. âEven with very high shoes â¦â
âLet me try it on,â said the woman. Sure enough, Holly was right. The grown trailed on the floor, and it was a little loose over her breasts. The colour was great against her chocolate skin, but the dress just didnât fit.
âShall we look for something else, maybe?â Holly ventured.
âI donât like anything else,â said the woman, like a petulant child. âI like this dress. Canât you fix it?â
âBefore tonight?â said Holly disbelievingly, but the woman just looked at her, as if the request was not at all unreasonable. They sent their alterations out to a woman who worked nearby, and the turnaround time was usually about a week. However, the dress was one of the most expensive in the shop, and Holly knew if she sold it, the commission wouldmake a sizeable difference in her pay-cheque at the end of the month.
The manager was out, and luckily things were quiet, so Holly ducked behind the counter and collected a box of pins and some tailorâs chalk. She pinned up the hem and made two tiny darts in the bust. The asymmetrical neckline made this even trickier, but she did it well. Carefully, she helped the woman to slip out of it and sent her off to finish
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