As they leave the corsetière, both Billy and Alice have a look of utter misery on their faces and just as Billy thinks he can’t feel any worse than he already does, he’s taken into a boutique where Mrs Postlethwaite has him measured and fitted with some clothes of his own; a pretty pink ‘day’ dress, a plain green ‘play’ dress and a pure white Sunday dress.
In addition, he is bought two pairs of shoes (one black, one cream, both heeled), several pairs of stockings and socks, several sets of knickers and vests, and a white knitted cardigan with little heart-shaped pockets which served no practical purpose. “But these are all girl’s clothes,” he whines.