Her Body and Other Parties

The main character works at a trendy store in the mall called Glam, which sells delicate dressers. She main character notices something strange about the dresses. At times they seem to move of their own volition. She soon becomes friends with Petra, a tomboy who supplies the store with the dresses. After she has sex with Petra for the first time, Petra shows the protagonist where the dresses come from. Petra’s own mother sews the dresses. Petra takes the main character behind the scenes, where the main character sees the specters of “faded women” who are sewing themselves into the dresses themselves. At this time, society is plagued with this condition of women who are simply fading away, unable to hold mass in their own bodies.

Unable to stop thinking of the women in the dresses, the main character stops working at Glam. She recounts, “Deep in the thick folds of the satin, I see lidless eyes” (137). The main character and Petra continue to develop their relationship when Petra begins fading away, her skin more like “skim milk than whole” (139). The narration of the story implies that it will only be a matter of time before all women fade away. After Petra fades away completely, the main character frantically goes back to Glam to try to free the women from the dresses. She does not succeed.