Passion for Fashion

  For Amelia and Erin – KC

  To Ben and Kali, who both love pugs - JAD

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  How to be a Pooch-Pampering Professional!

  Fun facts about Pugs!

  About the Author

  Copyright

  “This,” Abi said, pushing open the door with the “All Dogs Welcome” sign on it, “is Pooch Parlour!”

  “Wow!” Emily stared through the doorway without moving, which made Abi smile. Emily, Abi’s best friend, had arrived in London the night before. She was spending the weekend there, visiting Abi. Emily had already been amazed by Aunt Tiffany’s flat, Aunt Tiffany’s miniature dachshund, Hugo, and all the different shops near the luxury dog-grooming salon. But it looked like Pooch Parlour itself was the most impressive thing Emily had seen yet!

  Abi’s bichon frise, Lulu, sneaked through Emily’s legs and padded into the parlour, but Emily stayed still.

  “You can go in, you know,” Abi joked, and Emily grinned at her before stepping through the doorway.

  Emily had picked the best possible weekend to visit, Abi thought. Pooch Parlour was buzzing with activity, as everyone prepared to move off-site to the Pawchester Hotel. The very glamorous – but dog-friendly – hotel was holding the Best Friends for Life fashion show that very night! Aunt Tiffany had promised that the girls would get to watch the show, and tomorrow Abi could give Emily a glimpse of what a normal day at Pooch Parlour was like.

  “It’s incredible,” Emily said, as she explored the reception area, staring at the photos on the walls of celebrities and their dogs, and the glass cabinets full of sparkly dog accessories.

  “It really is,” Abi agreed.

  “And you get to work here every day, all summer.” Emily sighed. “You’re so lucky.”

  Abi knew that she was lucky. Not every nine-year-old girl had an aunt who ran a grooming parlour for the pets of the rich and famous, and not every nine-year-old girl got to spend a whole summer helping out there. It was hard work, taking care of the dogs, and doing whatever the Pooch Parlour staff needed her to do, but Abi loved it. And it was good practice for her future dream career – working with the animals who starred in films and on TV.

  “Well, this weekend you get to work here too,” Abi said. “Come on, I want to show you around.”

  At that moment, Hugo scurried under the curtain behind the reception desk, dressed in a bright red T-shirt and a black beret, followed by Aunt Tiffany. Lulu scampered over to Hugo.

  “I’m afraid your tour might have to wait, Abi,” Aunt Tiffany said. “I have a job for you two, and it means leaving Pooch Parlour for the whole day.”

  Abi’s eyes widened. If they were going to be out for the whole day, that must mean… “You want us to help out at the fashion show? Really?” She bounced on her toes at the idea. Abi had been thrilled they’d simply get to watch the show. She hadn’t imagined they might get to spend the whole day there.

  Aunt Tiffany nodded. “That’s right. I need you two to shadow Mel – that’s our wardrobe assistant, Emily. Abi’s already learned so much about grooming and looking after the dogs, I know you’ll both be a big help when Mel’s getting the dogs in and out of their costumes. We want them all to look adorable for their big moments!”

  “I’ve never dressed a dog in actual clothes before,” Emily said anxiously.

  “Don’t worry,” Aunt Tiffany said, with a gentle smile. “Abi will soon teach you, I’m sure.”

  “Should we go and find Mel now?” Abi asked.

  Aunt Tiffany nodded. “I think she’s in the wardrobe room, getting the costumes together,” she said. “I’ll see you both over at the hotel, later. I need to set up the mobile grooming stations for the dog models.”

  “OK,” Abi said. “Come on, Lulu!”

  Lulu scampered ahead, leading the way to the wardrobe room, with the girls hurrying along behind. The fluffy little dog knew her way around Pooch Parlour almost as well as Abi did!

  “Is Mel nice?” Emily asked, as they approached the wardrobe room.

  “She’s lovely,” Abi reassured her friend. “And the wardrobe room is great. It’s like a real shop, but with clothes for dogs. Look!” She pushed open the door. “Oh!”

  Instead of the usual neat racks and shelves filled with outfits and accessories, the wardrobe room was in absolute chaos. Jumpers and dresses and T-shirts and hats were everywhere, hanging off chairs and pegs and rails. The carefully ordered drawers of collars and bows, grouped by colour, had all been pulled out and mixed up.

  Abi gasped and suddenly, from the middle of the mess, Mel stood up. Her ponytail had been knocked lopsided, and her forehead was crinkled up in a frown.

  “Abi! Thank goodness you’re here,” Mel said, sounding relieved. “I really need your help.”

  “What happened?” Abi stepped into the room, treading carefully through the mess of clothes to reach Mel. Emily followed behind, as Lulu wandered off to explore a pile of doggy accessories.

  “I lost the matching hat for one of the fashion show outfits,” Mel explained, “and I had to pull out everything to find it. Now I need to get this place tidied up, and sort all the clothes and accessories for the fashion show into the right order on the rails, ready to load into the van.”

  Emily looked around at the chaos, then turned to Mel. “Where do you want us to start?”

  Abi smiled. “Mel, this is my very best friend, Emily. Aunt Tiffany said we should help you today.” Emily had had plenty of practice helping Abi tidy her room, on days when Abi’s mum said she couldn’t go out and play until it was spotless. Emily would be a great help today, even if she didn’t know how to dress a dog yet!

  “Um…” Mel stared at the list in her hand, then at the mess.

  “Abi,” Emily said, “you know where things are supposed to go around here, right? So if you start by putting things away that we don’t need for the show, I can help Mel get the outfits on the rails. Does that sound OK?”

  Mel smiled for the first time since they’d arrived. “That would be wonderful. Thank you, Emily.”

  Working together, they had the wardrobe room back to normal in no time. When Kim the receptionist stuck her head round the door to tell them that the van had arrived to take the outfits over to the hotel, they were ready. Each outfit hung neatly on the wheeled metal rails they were using for the show, complete with a label saying which dog it was for and when they’d be needed on the catwalk. Any accessories were in a see-through bag attached to the hanger, so that they couldn’t get lost or muddled up.

  The very last outfit on the rail was zipped up in a dark cover, with a “Top Secret” label on it.

  Abi nudged Emily. “I wonder what’s in there…”

  Emily shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out later. Come on!”

  “Time to go, Lulu!” Abi called, as they prepared to wheel the rails out to the van. Lulu bounced over at the sound of her name.

  “What’s that in your mouth?” Kneeling down, Abi held out her hand. The little dog dropped a red beret, just the right size for a young bichon frise. Abi fixed it on to Lulu’s head.

  “It looks perfect,” Mel said. “She should keep it on. She wouldn’t look out of place on the catwalk!”

  Once the rails of doggy outfits were loaded into the van, Mel, Emily, Abi and Lulu piled into the back of a taxi to drive over to the hotel.

  “What will you need us to do once we’re there, Mel?” Abi asked, as they drove through t
he London streets.

  Lulu sat snuggled up on Emily’s lap and rested her paws on Abi’s knee.

  “Well, first we have to meet with the designer, Nina Grace,” Mel said.

  Emily’s head jerked round to stare at Mel. “The Nina Grace?” she asked.

  Mel grinned. “That’s the one.”

  “I’ve never heard of Nina Grace,” Abi said, with a frown. “Who is she?”

  “She’s the best fashion designer in the country! My mum has magazines full of her designs,” Emily explained.

  “That’s right,” Mel said. “She’s very popular at the moment. She’s designed all the outfits for our human models and worked with me on the doggy ones. We’ve had meetings with Mrs Travers, who runs the charity, every month for the last year to look at designs and ideas, and narrow down our choices. Nina Grace is a real dog lover – that’s why she agreed to help out. We were very lucky to get her.”

  “It’s the Best Friends for Life charity, right?” Abi said. She knew a lot more about animal charities than she did about fashion designers. “They find forever homes for abandoned dogs,” she explained to Emily.

  “And are those the dogs that are going to be in the fashion show?” Emily asked.

  “One or two of them,” Mel said. “But mostly they’re pedigree dogs and their owners. Mrs Travers held an open audition for models – there were hundreds of people who wanted to be in the show! Mrs Travers and Nina picked the best twenty pairs. In fact,” she added, “I think I can see some of them arriving right now…”

  The taxi pulled to a stop in front of a huge white building with men in navy and gold uniforms standing outside. Abi and Emily crammed themselves up against the window to look out, while Mel paid the taxi driver. There were people with suitcases and bags everywhere, all with dogs pulling at their leads to try and get inside. Abi spotted a fireman in uniform with a big Dalmatian, and twins with identical chocolate Labradors.

  “Wow,” Emily said. “That’s a lot of people.”

  “And a lot of dogs,” Abi agreed. The girls were going to have their work cut out getting all the dogs in and out of their outfits.

  “Come on,” Mel said, opening the taxi door. “Let’s go and see if our rails have been unloaded yet.”

  Inside, the hotel sparkled – there were marble floors and columns and enormous vases filled with flowers. Lulu’s claws skittered against the polished floor and Abi’s trainers gave a little squeak as she walked. There were more men in navy and gold uniforms, and dotted around the foyer were huge cream sofas and polished low wooden tables.

  Mel led the girls past the crowds and straight to a special desk with a banner reading “Best Friends for Life!” above it. At the desk sat an older woman, with short grey hair and a bright purple jacket on. She had a clipboard just like Mel’s and on the desk were folders, each with two names and a photo of a dog and their owner.

  “Mel! You’re here,” the woman cried when she spotted them. “Fantastic! And these must be your assistants for the day.”

  “Hello, Mrs Travers,” Mel said, cheerily. “Yes, this is Abi, and this is Emily. And this little beauty investigating your table legs is Lulu.”

  Mrs Travers smiled and bent down to pet Lulu. “What a beautiful hat, Lulu! The Pooch Parlour van just arrived,” she said, straightening up again. “Your rails are being unloaded directly to the doggy dressing room. Nina’s already in the ballroom, I think, getting ready to talk to everyone. Most people are here already.”

  “Great,” Mel said. “We’ll head over there too, then start getting things ready.”

  “Hold on. Abi, can you pick up Lulu for a moment?” Mrs Travers whipped out a camera from her bag, and took a quick snap of them all. Then she plugged the camera directly into a mini printer on the desk and printed out the photo. She stuck it to the front of a blank folder, which she handed to Mel. “Inside this folder is everything you need to know about the day. Timetables, maps, names, running orders, phone numbers, everything. So don’t lose it!”

  “We won’t,” they promised.

  “Mel, you remember where everything is? Good. Well, off you go then.” Mrs Travers pointed towards the corridor behind her. “Lots to do!”

  Putting Lulu down again, but holding on to her lead, Abi trotted after Mel and Emily as they headed into the hotel. It was time to meet the world-famous designer, Nina Grace!

  Abi was glad that their folder had a map in it, and that Mel knew where she was going. The hotel corridors all looked the same and she was sure she’d be lost in no time if she was on her own. Lulu kept trying to stop and sniff around the potted plants and investigate the doors, but Abi kept her close at heel. She didn’t want them to fall behind!

  Eventually, they came to a set of double doors with a large gold sign that read “Ballroom”. Emily glanced nervously at Abi as Mel opened the door. Abi tried to give her friend a reassuring smile, but the truth was, she didn’t really know what to expect behind the door either. The Pawchester Hotel was even swankier than Pooch Parlour!

  Abi and Emily linked arms, stepped inside the ballroom and looked around. “This is incredible,” Emily said.

  Abi could only nod. The huge room – bigger by far than her school hall – had been set out with rows and rows of plush chairs for the audience. Then, right at the front and jutting out into the middle of the room, was the catwalk platform. At the back hung a navy velvet curtain, studded with sparkly gems that glittered in the lights.

  The room hummed with activity. Dogs jumped up on to the seats and barked for treats from their owners. Grown-ups and children stood around chatting.

  They’re all waiting to be told what to do next, Abi realized. Just like us.

  At that moment, the sparkly curtain parted and a woman stepped out on to the catwalk. Dressed in a red knitted dress and a long gold necklace that hung to her waist, she stamped her high-heeled boot against the platform and waited for the room to fall silent.

  “Hello, everyone,” she said, her voice soft and sweet. “I’m Nina Grace, your designer for the show. I can’t wait to get started. How about you?”

  Abi stared up at Nina Grace, taking in every word. The designer talked about her own dog, Blue, who had come from a rescue centre, and how he was her inspiration for the show. Then she told them how much money they hoped to raise for the charity that evening.

  “Enough to look after every dog at the centre until their perfect forever home can be found!” Nina said, and everyone clapped.

  “But now to the show itself. My assistants, Natalie and Sarah, will be backstage to help get you in and out of the designs, and we’ve brought our own hair stylists and make-up artists too. But the show’s not just about you, of course. It’s about your gorgeous dogs! So I’m delighted to tell you that the wonderful team from Pooch Parlour will be here to groom and prepare your pets for the catwalk. Please welcome our doggy designer, Mel – where are you, Mel?”

  Mel waved, blushing a little as everyone turned to stare at her. “And these are my assistants, Abi and Emily.” Lulu gave a bark. She didn’t want to be forgotten! “And Lulu, of course,” Mel added, and everyone laughed.

  “Mel and I have worked together to come up with all the adorable outfits your dogs will be wearing in the show. She and the girls will also be backstage to get your dogs in and out of their outfits. Now, if everyone’s ready, I’ll take you through the curtain to see where the magic is going to happen!”

  Backstage, everything was set up for the dress rehearsal. Beyond the quick-change area just behind the curtain, one large room had been turned into a ladies’ dressing room and another was set up for the men. Each had mirrors and dressing tables, with baskets full of hair products and make-up. Nina introduced the models to the hair stylists and make-up artists who would be helping to get them ready.

  Emily stared longingly at the other side of the room, where rails full of Nina Grace’s designs were lined up against the wall, all carefully labelled with the name of the model and their order i
n the show, just like the doggy ones had been. One, in a black cover, had a big yellow “Top Secret” sticker on it, the same as the one on the dog costume rail.

  Abi could see that Emily really wanted to know what was in there! But Nina was already asking them to move through to the next room – the room that Abi was most interested in. This room, larger than both of the other dressing rooms, had been set up as a mobile Pooch Parlour!

  “Hello, everyone,” Aunt Tiffany said as the crowd of models and dogs entered. “Welcome to the doggy dressing room!”

  Aunt Tiffany had set up mobile grooming stations along one side of the room, each with a Pooch Parlour staff member standing by to primp and pamper the dogs. In the corner was a mini Doggy Daycare to keep the dogs entertained while their owners were busy getting ready. On the other side were the rails of doggy costumes that Abi and Emily had helped Mel prepare. Soon they would get to meet the dogs who were going to wear them!

  “Why don’t you all take twenty minutes to settle in and learn where everything is,” Nina said. “Then we’ll start going through the running order and getting you all ready for the dress rehearsal!”

  Abi and Emily followed Mel over to the rails to check the dog costumes, while the models milled around. Some headed back to the dressing rooms and others brought their pets over to meet the Pooch Parlour staff and have a look around the grooming stations. Once the models went to their dressing rooms to get ready, the Pooch Parlour staff would be in charge of all the dogs.

  Most of the dogs were very well behaved, Abi noticed. That must have been one of the reasons they were picked for the show. With so many different breeds and people backstage, it was important they all got along.

  But then she heard a growl, and another one, and a dog started barking wildly. Turning around, Abi saw the twin boys she’d spotted earlier with their Labrador puppies, and a red-haired girl with another dog on a lead. A small, squat, short-haired dog that just wouldn’t stop barking!