Alexandrie hasn't worn colors like this in ages. More than a decade. But Lakshmi is right, it does make her eyes a brighter blue, almost adding a bit of green to them which in turn does lovely things for her hair. She should have to wear a different shade on her lips to truly complete the effect, but it is certainly a look that ought to attract attention to Lakshmi's fashionable endeavors.

"It is lovely," she says, turning this way and that before the mirror to check the profile it creates. The years of tight-laced corsetry mean she still cuts a similar figure to what she might with a more forgiving bodice, and really ought to give viewers something to think on and imagine. What might she be wearing beneath such different clothing? "I think perhaps I have never seen colors so rich and bright, and I think all who comment upon it should be extremely surprised and curious to know it is but one piece of cunningly draped cloth. That alone may be enough to induce others in Hightown to patronize your budding business."