Joan thought about his options for a moment. He could opt for the boots, but he'd be walking in heels all day which might end up uncomfortable later. However, it would put him closer to the height he's used to. On the other hand, the flats were more comfortable, but being the shorter twin might make him appear submissive and less assertive. Considering that he was inhabiting a copy of his girlfriend's body, maybe he should live with it.
Joan took off the boots. "I'll wear the flats. You’re 'Katie Prime' — the original. I'm a copy. You’re in charge today. I'll let you be the taller copy."
Katie let out a little laugh. "That sounds good. Just so you know, I'd have let you wear the flats even if you said you simply didn't want to wear heels, if you preferred the color, or even flipped a coin. Makes no difference to me, although I do like the idea of being in charge today."
Joan grinned as he finished putting on the flats and had put his old shoes in the box. "Where to next, boss?"
They started walking to the register. "After we pay for these, we should get you some better clothes. There's a good store that usually carries stuff I like just a few doors down. We'll check that out next. After that, we can get some lunch."
They paid for the shoes and boots and Joan wore the new shoes out of the store and carried the bag with Katie's boots and his old shoes. Turning left, they walked into a women's clothing store not far from the shoe store. Looking around, Joan could tell this place sold clothing that appeared to be a bit dressier than he expected. Although he would have preferred simply getting some jeans and a shirt from The Gap, obviously Katie had something else in mind. He wondered if she was trying to get him into a dress again or if she was merely using this as an excuse to buy something fancier for herself to wear later. Still ashamed of his behavior in the dressing room, he silently followed Katie and would do whatever she asked.
Stopping among dresses on the right side of the store, Katie browsed through some options hanging on racks. Circling around to the other side of a clothing rack, she noticed Joan simply standing there. "You're welcome to help me look. I usually wear a size 8, but it varies based on the designer, store, and probably the alignment of the planets. See if there's anything you like."
Joan turned to his right and started poking through some racks. He didn't know what he was looking for. Most of the clothing racks had one style of dress in various sizes with the smaller ones in the front. A lot of what he saw seemed to have some gaudy piece of fake jewelry attached, appeared to be too short, or have other features he didn't care for. He wondered if all stores were like this or maybe it was just this one that didn't seem to have plain old "normal" dresses. After unenthusiastically browsing through a few racks, he looked around to survey the store and see if he could spot anything more promising elsewhere in the store. He realized that he must have attracted the attention of one of the store employees when he saw a woman with a name badge headed in his direction.
"Hello, may I help you" asked the greying woman with the "Susan" name badge.
"Oh, just browsing," he replied, not really in the mood for a conversation.
Susan smiled. "We have some discounted items in our clearance section at the front of the store," she suggested as she motioned toward the entrance.
Joan sighed. He realized that the salesperson was assuming from how he was dressed that he didn't have much money and that he should be looking at the clearance items or simply leave. He figured she couldn't imagine any other reason someone would come to the mall in an outfit that was clearly too large. Of course, she'd never guess the actual reason.
"I was headed to an event with my sister over there," Joan explained. "As we unpacked the car last night, my clumsy cousin John dropped our dresses in a mud puddle. So we're here looking for replacements. I had to borrow these clothes just to have something to wear today."
"That's unfortunate," Susan replied. "What happened to the clothes you wore yesterday?"
"Oh, well those got muddy too," Joan bluffed. "Long story." He hoped that this would end the nosy salesperson's line of questioning.
"Well, I'm certain we can find something here for you. What kind of event is it?"
Joan thought quickly. A wedding might be too fancy, but what other kind of event could she invent that needed a certain level of dress and also seemingly necessitate an overnight stay? A class reunion? A milestone birthday? He couldn't think of anything better, so he went with his original thought. "It's a wedding. Second cousin that I've only met twice, but as invited family we're kind of obligated to be there."
Susan chuckled. "Yes, I know how that is. When I got married my parents insisted on inviting what seemed liked every living relative no matter how close we were along with a lot of their own friends. At least they were willing to help offset some of the cost."
Joan laughed nervously. "Yeah, that's good. Anyway, I'm not looking for anything too fancy. I'd prefer something fairly conservative and don't want to show too much skin."
"Okay, we've got some dresses over here that would be appropriate for a wedding." Susan directed Joan to the left side of the store. "What size are you? A six?" she asked as they walked over.
"Usually around an 8."
"Okay, we shouldn't have any trouble finding something for you." Susan pulled out a bright pink satin dress with spaghetti straps and held it up. It looked like it would be well above his knees. "Here's a nice one that would be flattering on you."
Joan shook his head. "No, I'd really like something less revealing. Something that doesn't attract quite as much attention."
Susan apologized. "Of course. I forgot that you'd mostly be with family. You probably won't be picking up men then." She laughed.
Joan grinned nervously. "Lady, you have no idea!" she thought.
Susan held up another dress which was a peach color. It had a V-neck and layers of embroidery around the bottom which would be about knee-length.
Joan shrugged. "That's a better length and the color is better, but I'm not a fan of the neckline." He looked at his shoes. "Perhaps anything in navy blue? Also, maybe something more casual? I hope that's not too much to ask."
Susan thought for a moment. "I think I might know just the thing." She searched through a few racks and presented a navy blue short sleeve dress which would fall just below his knees. It had a fairly high neckline and a bit of flare to the dress below the waist.
"That looks great! Are you a mind reader since that's pretty close to what I had in mind. Maybe even better!"
Susan offered the dress to Joan. "Would you like to try it on?"
"Actually, let me check with my sister first. She's the fashion expert." Joan started walking toward Katie. Katie, having kept an eye on Joan, met her halfway.
"Did you find something?" Katie asked?
"Yeah, with that woman's help," Joan replied quietly. "Of course, since it will be your dress after today, I figured you should have final say. Oh, and also I made up a bullshit story about having mud splashed on our dresses so I had to wear this and come out with you to get replacements for our second cousin's wedding."
Katie looked at Joan confused. "What?"
"Just go with it," she quietly replied as they approached Susan. Within earshot of the salesperson, Joan asked Katie, "I like this one. What do you think?"
Katie nodded. "That's very nice. Fairly simple, but I think there's a potential to get a lot of use out of that. If you like it, that's good enough for me. You should try it on."
Joan took the dress and was directed to a dressing room in the back of the store. Joan hesitated before entering to check for any magical glyphs next to the door, but it appeared to be a regular dressing room.
As he tried on the dress, Susan showed a few options to Katie including suggesting they get copies of the same dress.
"We may be identical, but that doesn't mean we have to dress identical. It's better if we dress differently so people can tell us apart." Katie looked over the options and picked a sleeveless sheath dress in dark magenta. It came down below her knees, but had fairly low neckline.
Joan returned from the dressing room wearing the navy blue dress. Susan complimented her, but Joan wondered if she was just trying to make the sale. He looked to Katie for actual advice. "What do you think?" He turned around so she could get a full view.
Katie realized this was the first time she'd be able to actually see what a dress looked like on her body without using a mirror. It was always hard to get a good view from behind when looking in a mirror. She liked how the dress flared out below the waist. "That looks great. I think we should get it." She handed Joan the sheath dress. "Can you try this on for me next?" Joan took Katie's dress and walked off to the dressing room. As he walked off, she explained to Susan. "We're the same size. I like it when she tries on my stuff so I can see how it looks."
"Wow, that's pretty great that you can do that! A lot easier than looking in a mirror, isn't it?" commented Susan.
"Absolutely!" Katie made small talk while they waited. "We've shared clothes often. She likes dressing up for me."
"That's fun. I grew up with three brothers, so I never got to share clothes with any siblings...except when they'd steal my stuff for Halloween or something," revealed Susan with a laugh.
Katie just nodded and wished Joan would hurry up. A minute later, he was back in the sheath dress. Katie had Joan turn around and admired how nice her own butt looked in that dress. "I like the sweetheart neckline. The material's a little stretchy so it appears to fit very well. The vented hemline should make it easier to dance at the wedding." Katie winked at Joan. "Yeah, I think we'll take it."
Susan was pleased. "Very good. I can ring you up over here." She moved to a nearby cashier station.
Katie turned to Joan. "Did you want to keep wearing that or change into the navy blue dress?"
Joan ran his hands down the form-fitting dress. He liked the feel of the fabric. "This is nice, but I think I'd be more comfortable in the other dress."
Susan interrupted. "I'll scan the tags for both and then you can go ahead and change. Will these be separate charges?"
"No, I'll pay for both," Katie offered.
As the charge went through, Susan removed the anti-theft devices attached to each dress and handed the navy blue dress to Joan who then went off to change. A few minutes later, Joan returned wearing the navy blue dress, holding the other dress on a hanger, and holding his original clothing. Susan took the sheath dress and put a plastic garment bag over the hanger to protect the dress. She also offered Joan a shopping bag to carry his T-shirt and jeans.
As they left the store, Katie looked at Joan. "You really picked out a nice dress. You look good in that."
"Thanks, but I think it's technically you that looks good in it," Joan replied. "So... Now that I'm dressed a lot less awkwardly, should we get some lunch?"