Nika stood in front of the window in her new pants, while Taisia crouched down, asking for the third time:
«Nika, stand still. Not on one leg. I’m marking the hem, not trying to guess which way you’ll lean in a minute.»
«I’m standing still.»
«You’ve already scratched your foot with the other leg twice.»
With a heavy sigh, Nika froze in front of her mother, arms straight at her sides. She was wearing the very shoes with a low heel she planned to wear to the anniversary celebration, so the pants would have the perfect length.
They’d bought the suit back in the spring—a simple grey-beige one with straight pants and a loose jacket. Nika liked it precisely because she didn’t have to constantly adjust anything, pull at it, or check if the waistband was crooked.
Taisia pinned the second pant leg and stood up, stepping back to look.
«All done. Take them off. I’ll hem them after breakfast.»
At the table, Gleb was battling with a gift box. He’d bought just enough wrapping paper, so now he was trying to connect the edges as if the seal’s quality determined the airtightness of a spacecraft.
«Nika, pass me the tape.»
«It’s under your elbow.»
«That’s not the right one.»
«Dad, tape is tape. There’s no such thing as festive or technical tape.»
Gleb looked at his daughter.
«That’s why I say: today’s biggest challenge isn’t the restaurant.»
Taisia already understood what he meant.
«It’s your mom.»
«My mom,» Gleb confirmed. «And today she’s going to be especially amazing. It’s Larisa Borisovna’s sixtieth, the whole clan’s gathering. It’s that time of year for the family showcase.»
Nika pulled off her pants and disappeared into her room.
«Maybe this time it’ll go smoothly?» Taisia said.
Gleb gave her such a meaningful look that she was the first to laugh.
They’d long since stopped believing in miracles.
Inna Borisovna had a rare gift: she noticed other people’s outfits faster than their faces.
You’d walk into her house after a two-week absence, and instead of «How are you?», you’d hear:
«You’re wearing that gray again?»
Or:
«Nice pants, of course, but why do they look so masculine?»
Or:
«Taisia, couldn’t you at least put on some lipstick? You are a woman, after all.»
Inna Borisovna herself loved clothes that stood out. If it was a dress, it had an interesting collar, decorative buttons, and preferably some other element no one else in the family knew the name of. If it was earrings, they had to be visible from across the room.
She never forced anyone to dress like her—at least, that’s how Inna Borisovna described her behavior.
She was just «suggesting» after all.
Taisia had been on the receiving end of these suggestions almost from the moment she met Gleb.
She worked as a design engineer, spent five days a week at the office, and picked her clothes without much philosophy: good pants, shirts, sweaters, jackets, comfortable shoes or heels.
She used makeup when she wanted to, not because society expected blush at 7:45 on a Tuesday morning.
At first, Inna Borisovna thought it was just a phase.
«Once they get married, she’ll start taking care of herself,» she said to her son one day.
Gleb replied that Taisia did take care of herself, she just didn’t feel the need to broadcast it to everyone passing by.
His mother took offense.
After the wedding, she waited a few more years. Then Nika was born, and Inna Borisovna was certain that now her daughter-in-law would finally become «more feminine.»
For some reason, Taisia still didn’t meet those expectations.
As the years went by, the mother-in-law came to a final conclusion: her son had chosen a woman who didn’t care about her appearance at all.
One day, Taisia showed up to help her mother-in-law move, dressed in her old jeans and a hoodie. Inna Borisovna, with her sister present, announced:
«Gleb isn’t picky. He married a scarecrow and he’s happy.»
Taisia stayed silent then.
She quickly realized that arguing with Inna Borisovna about looks was like trying to convince someone who loves herring under a fur coat that a cucumber salad deserves a chance, too.
You could waste an hour trying.
But the herring isn’t going anywhere.
As Nika grew older, the family’s little problem continued.
The daughter really did take after her mom—dark hair, similar gray eyes, and just as relaxed about everyday beautifying.
At school, Nika often wore jeans, hoodies, and sneakers. In winter, she loved straight-cut coats, and only wore dresses when she wanted to—not when someone else wanted to see her as «a girl.»
Inna Borisovna was especially shocked when her granddaughter decided to work with clothing professionally.
After school, Nika enrolled in college to study design and apparel construction.
At first, Inna Borisovna was thrilled.
Then she looked at her granddaughter, who turned up in a sweater, baggy jeans, and sneakers, and asked:
«Don’t they teach you how to dress nicely there?»
Nika calmly replied:
«They teach us to create clothes, Grandma. Not to force people to dress up against their will.»
Gleb had a separate talk with his mother after that.
It wasn’t the first time.
«Mom, can you please stop commenting on Taya and Nika?»
«What did I even say?»
«Don’t ask that every time, either.»
Inna Borisovna agreed.
For about three weeks.
Then, at a family tea, she complimented a cousin on her manicure and casually remarked:
«You can tell right away, she really takes care of herself.»
At that moment, Taisia was cutting the pie.
She simply handed the pie server to Gleb and said:
«Your turn.»
By the age of eighteen, Nika almost never reacted to her grandmother’s comments about her appearance.
What bothered her was something else.
It hurt when Inna Borisovna would make remarks about her mother, then put on a surprised face:
«What’s wrong? I only say it with love.»
Nika suggested a few times that she could respond.
Taisia would brush her off.
«Don’t. She loves being the main fashion consultant of the Russian Federation. Let her.»
A week before the anniversary, things suddenly took a new turn.
Larisa Borisovna, Inna’s older sister, called Taisia in the evening.
«Are you home?»
«I’m home.»
«I’ll stop by for fifteen minutes. Just promise you won’t laugh.»
Twenty minutes later, she arrived with a shopping bag.
Inside was a dress she had bought especially for the sixtieth birthday celebration.
The dress itself was lovely, and in the store Larisa Borisovna thought the length made her look taller and slimmer.
But at home, she discovered the dress did something else: it kept making her trip over the hem.
«I walked around the apartment and almost tripped twice,» she complained. «And it’s too late to return it now, I already took off the tag.»
Nika asked her aunt to put on the dress.
She walked around her, asked her to turn sideways.
Taisiya looked at the back of the dress.
«We definitely need to shorten the length. And here, we could take it in just a bit. It’ll fit much better that way.»
«Will you do it?»
«I will.»
Nika reached into the bag Larisa had brought and took out the shoes that came with the dress.
«I wouldn’t wear these,» she said.
«But they’re new!»
«I can see that. But you’ll end up taking them off and hiding them under the table in an hour.»
Larisa Borisovna burst out laughing.
«Make that forty minutes.»
In the end, from the spare pairs Larisa had brought, they found another set—calmer and with a sturdier heel. Nika picked earrings for the dress from Larisa’s own collection, and Taisiya carefully re-fitted the dress and shortened the hem over two evenings.
The next day, the birthday girl’s eldest daughter Oksana arrived. Then the younger one, Vera.
Oksana was planning to buy a new suit, even though she already had a nice blazer at home. That evening, she sent Nika photos of the things from her wardrobe, and they realized she hardly needed to buy anything new.
As for Vera, Nika talked her out of buying yet another party dress that would just collect dust for years.
By Friday, two more relatives had joined the family consultation via photos.
That evening, Taisiya opened the fridge, saw a sheet of paper with someone’s measurements stuck on the door, and said:
«You know, we actually used to live here.»
Nika didn’t look up from her phone.
«Go ahead and live.»
«Thank you. I was starting to think the apartment had been converted into a tailor shop.»
«Not yet.»
«The key word is ‘yet,'» Gleb remarked.
Inna Borisovna didn’t know about any of this.
And on the day of the anniversary, she was the first to arrive at the restaurant.
Gleb spotted his mom by the coat check and whispered to Taisiya:
«That’s it. We can go home now. The main outfit has arrived.»
«Don’t start.»
«I’m not. I’m honestly impressed.»
Inna Borisovna’s new dress was truly striking. It featured decorative inserts, sparkly elements on the belt, and trim around the collar.
She paired the dress with shiny shoes, a bold necklace, and a small handbag adorned with metallic details.
Each item looked quite nice on its own.
But together, they looked like a committee meeting where no one could decide on a chairperson.
«Hi, Mom,» Gleb said as he kissed her on the cheek. «Very festive.»
Inna Borisovna straightened her shoulders.
«How else should I dress for my sister’s anniversary?»
Then she noticed Taisiya.
Taisiya was in a dark blue dress just below the knee, with no fancy decorations. Her only accessory was a pair of small earrings.
Her mother-in-law’s gaze lingered on her a second longer than necessary.
But she said nothing.
Then Nika appeared in a pantsuit.
Again, Inna Borisovna remained silent.
Gleb even thought maybe years of conversations had finally paid off.
The first half-hour really did go smoothly.
Larisa Borisovna accepted flowers, thanked the guests, fixed a lock of hair, and kept telling Taisiya:
«Look, nothing’s pulling anywhere! I’ve already sat down and stood up in it.»
«Just don’t test the dress by squatting,» Taisiya replied.
«After my second glass, I will.»
Gleb found himself sitting at the table surrounded by family members he hadn’t seen since New Year’s—and some he hadn’t seen for even longer.
The conversation started with the usual topics: children, home renovations, vacations, and rising prices.
Then someone complimented Nika’s suit.
“You look great in it,” one of the relatives said.
“Thank you.”
Inna Borisovna took a sip of water.
“Sure, it looks nice. But at eighteen, you could dress up a bit more.”
Gleb turned his head.
“Mom.”
“What, ‘Mom’? I wasn’t saying anything bad.”
Nika calmly kept eating her salad.
Inna Borisovna decided the danger had passed.
“You’re only young once. And she always dresses like she’s going to class. Just like her mother.”
Taisiya picked up her glass of water.
“Inna Borisovna, today is Larisa’s special day. Let’s not start.”
“I’m not criticizing!” the mother-in-law exclaimed. “Gleb has never been picky since childhood. He married a scarecrow, and now their daughter has turned out the same.”
A few people at the table suddenly found their plates very interesting.
Gleb put down his fork.
“Mom, that’s enough.”
But then, unexpectedly, Nika looked up.
“No, Dad. Wait.”
She spoke in a completely calm voice.
Somehow, that calmness was even more striking than if she’d raised her voice.
“Grandma, may I clarify something?”
Inna Borisovna eyed her warily.
“What is it?”
“For years you’ve said that Mom doesn’t know how to dress.”
“I don’t say ‘doesn’t know how’. I say she doesn’t want to look feminine.”
“Okay. Then let’s leave judgment aside. Just the facts.”
Taisiya looked at her daughter.
“Nika…”
“Mom, I’m fine.”
Nika turned to her grandmother.
“Who altered Aunt Larisa’s dress?”
Inna Borisovna glanced at her sister.
“What was wrong with it?”
Larisa Borisovna was already smiling.
“A lot of things.”
Nika continued:
“Mom shortened the hem and fixed the fit. We picked the shoes and earrings together. Oksana’s outfit was put together from her own items. Vera’s too. Aunt Sveta sent photos, and so did Tamara.”
At the other end of the table, Tamara raised her hand:
“That’s right.”
“So,” Nika said, “five women at this table today are dressed fully or partly with our help.”
Inna Borisovna frowned.
“And so?”
“That’s all. You’ve been nitpicking Mom’s clothes for years, calling her a scarecrow, and today you’ve lumped me in with her. But when it comes to advice, for some reason, everyone comes to us.”
Someone coughed.
Nika looked around at her relatives, then back at her grandmother.
“I think our family statistics should be more objective. One person criticizes, but the rest are lining up for the two scarecrows’ advice.”
For a few seconds, no one said a word.
Larisa Borisovna was the first to laugh.
She laughed so hard, she had to put her napkin down on the table.
“Inna, she’s right.”
“Larisa!”
“What? If I’d worn my own dress today, it would’ve looked like curtains, and I’d be yanking the hem from under my heels every five minutes.”
Oksana nodded:
“I almost bought a new suit for twelve thousand, but Nika found me pants for my own jacket.”
Vera added:
“She told me not to buy a dress.”
“I didn’t forbid you,” Nika protested.
“It was basically a ban.”
“I just said you didn’t need it.”
“See? Strict specialist.”
The whole table burst out laughing.
Even Taisiya.
Inna Borisovna tried to smile too.
“Oh come on, I’m always just joking. Why take it so seriously?”
Nika didn’t argue.
«Alright. Then I was just joking, too.»
That turned out to be the most awkward reply.
Because there was no way to accuse her granddaughter of being rude.
Gleb picked up his glass.
«I propose a toast to peace between high fashion and the engineering department.»
«Gleb,» Taisiya cut him off.
«Okay, I’ll be quiet now.»
The celebration went on.
Inna Borisovna sat quieter than usual for a few minutes, then the conversation shifted to travel and the tension slowly faded away.
The real ending of the story happened about an hour later, when the photographer started gathering relatives for a group photo.
They moved chairs, called for the kids, and tried to find Vera’s husband, who had, for some reason, decided to take a phone call right at that moment.
The photographer took a test shot.
He looked at the screen.
Then another shot.
Then he walked over to Inna Borisovna.
«Excuse me, could you remove your necklace for a few photos? It’s creating a lot of glare.»
Taisiya immediately looked at her husband.
Gleb was already staring at the ceiling.
He looked up with such focused interest, as if the World Cup final had suddenly started playing on the ceiling.
Inna Borisovna slowly removed her necklace and put it in her purse.
Nika turned away toward Oksana.
Oksana bit her lip.
No one said a word.
And that silence actually made the moment much funnier.
In the car on the way home, Gleb managed to hold it together for about five minutes.
Then he finally said:
«I think the photographer took the biggest risk today.»
Taisiya burst out laughing.
«Don’t you dare.»
«I didn’t even do anything.»
From the back seat, Nika replied:
«That’s exactly why you’re still alive.»
Taisiya turned to her daughter.
«You said all the right things today. I was just afraid you’d go on further.»
«I didn’t get carried away.»
«I noticed.»
Nika shrugged.
«It’s just that if a person says something mean twenty times and then explains it was a joke, sometimes you need to send a joke back. Just once. So they understand how it feels.»
Gleb nodded.
«An engineer’s family.»
Nothing miraculous happened after the anniversary.
Inna Borisovna didn’t wake up the next morning as a new person.
She still believed that lipstick could improve practically any situation.
She still loved bold earrings.
She would sometimes ask Taisiya:
«Are you sure you’re going out without any jewelry?»
But she never used the phrase about looking like a scarecrow anymore.
Not to her face.
Not in front of relatives.
Gleb was the first to notice this, but made no special comment.
A few months later, Nika came home from college and saw her grandmother’s boots in the hallway.
Inna Borisovna was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea.
A jacket from her new pantsuit was draped over the back of the chair, and the pants were spread out on the seat.
«Nika, will you take a look?»
Nika took off her jacket.
«What happened?»
«I don’t know. It looked good in the store, but at home when I put it on—something seems off.»
Taisiya, by the stove, raised her eyebrows just slightly.
Nika pretended not to notice.
«Try it on.»
A few minutes later, Inna Borisovna came out in her new suit.
Nika asked her to turn around.
She looked at the shoulders, the jacket line, the length of the pants.
«It’s not your style.»
«Why not?»
«The shoulders are too stiff, and the jacket ends awkwardly. It makes you look boxy.»
Grandma frowned.
«So what should I buy?»
Nika grabbed her phone, opened up the store’s website and showed a similar outfit in a different style.
«Try this one. The lines are softer here. And the pants look better straight, without such a big flare.»
Inna Borisovna leaned in closer to the screen.
«What about the color?»
«The color is fine.»
«Jewelry?»
Nika looked at her.
«Just one.»
«What do you mean?»
«Either large earrings or a necklace.»
Inna Borisovna stayed silent for a while.
«Earrings.»
«Perfect.»
Nika didn’t say a word about the restaurant, the taxidermy collection, or the family statistics.
A week later, her grandma sent her a picture from the fitting room.
Then a second one.
Then a third photo, with a question:
«Is this one better?»
Nika replied which one she liked.
Another month went by and the store photos from grandma started coming in regularly.
One evening, Taisiya saw her daughter checking yet another message and asked:
«Who is it?»
«Grandma. She’s picking out a jacket.»
«On her own?»
«For now, yes. But it’s serious. There are already four options.»
Taisiya sat down beside her.
«Show me.»
They scrolled through the photos together.
In the last one, Inna Borisovna was standing in front of the mirror in a fairly simple light-colored jacket with no sequins, fancy clasps, or decorative details.
Taisiya was surprised:
«This one is nice.»
«That’s the one I chose, too.»
A minute later, Nika sent her response.
Her phone buzzed almost immediately.
Inna Borisovna replied:
«Alright. I’ll get it.»
Taisiya glanced at her daughter and smirked.
«Wow. Family fashion has come full circle.»
«What do you mean?»
«The woman who spent years telling us how to dress now won’t buy a jacket without the family’s official approval.»
Nika burst out laughing.
«Mom!»
«What? I say it with love.»
And both knew exactly why that line felt funnier than ever now.
