Velvet Boundaries - Part 21 🌸🌿💚

... Inside, the reading café smelled of paper and espresso. They found a corner table near a window, Anna pulling out her laptop while Louisa, deliberately without a phone, fetched a pile of books on cultural history and religion. The barista gave Louisa a quick curious glance, but said nothing.

“So,” Anna began, opening a browser, “do you think Victorian modesty had religious roots?”

Louisa traced the gilt lettering on the spine of a book. “I know it was tied to morality. To Christian virtues like chastity, humility, discipline. Clothing was not only fashion, it was a statement of virtue. But I don’t know how conscious that was — whether women wore it because of God, or because of society.” ...