Mrs Postlethwaite takes them to a corsetière where Alice is to be fitted with her first corset. The window is filled with mannequins clad in a variety of brutal undergarments; mostly modern girdles, panties, and brassieres, but there’s the occasional corset too. It’s dark inside the shop and every inch is filled with either display stands or storage, housing numerous styles of knickers and brassieres, stockings, suspenders, girdles, and corsets. A smart-looking lady is fitting a brassiere to a small bust mannequin and Mrs Postlethwaite tells her that Alice needs a corset fitting. “Isn’t she a bit young?” the lady says.
“Absolutely not.” Mrs Postlethwaite insists before claiming that she began her corset training on her eighth birthday. Alice is taken to a back room and told to undress and young Billy can only listen as his fellow evacuee is laced into her first corset.