Friendship stars, gifts and the patterns they unlock

Each client has a row of five stars in your Sketchbook. Delivered commissions and gifts fill them, and as a friendship grows the game can hand you new dress patterns. No romance option has turned up with any of the ten clients.

The Friendships page

The Sketchbook opens on a page headed Friendships: one row of five stars for each client you have met, and ??? for anyone still to come. Open a client and her page lists her measurements and a Personal style with five slots that fill in as you go. After two dresses for Rose, her page shows two stars and two styles, Professional and Simple, with three slots still hidden.

What fills a star

• Deliver a story commission

  One whole star for every card you complete.

• Gift a finished dress

  Adds to that client’s stars, and can end with new patterns added to your Sketchbook.

• Make an extra order Berty brings

  Dorothy pitches extra dresses for your favourite customers as the way to deepen those friendships.

When Gift Dress appears

Not at the start. It turns up straight after Prudence’s second dress, Undercover Servant, with a notice: “You may now also gift dresses to the clients you've met.” The same notice points you to the Sketchbook for each client’s preferences and measurements. From then on, a finished dress offers four choices: Complete Commission, Keep working, Sell, and Gift Dress.

What a gift looks like

1. Gift Dress on a finished dress opens Select Gift Recipient, a list of every client you have met.
2. The client answers. Dorothy, handed a dress that failed a card, says “I might not wear this dress every day, but it's charming nonetheless.”
3. Sometimes, new patterns. The game says “Your friendship has inspired new dress patterns!” and offers Add to Sketchbook.

Any finished dress can go as a gift, including one that failed its card, and a gift can still raise that client’s friendship. The exception is a dress for a commission that is still open: give that away and the story can stall. If that has already happened, commission disappeared has the fixes. Cheap dresses to gift, and what selling pays, are on off the rack, selling and gifts.

Berty’s orders and visiting cards

Once Dorothy’s pigeon adopts you, he brings extra orders from clients. They are optional, and Dorothy is clear that “these extra tasks wouldn't expire, although I imagine customers could occasionally become temporarily unavailable for personal reasons.” He also carries a visiting card, and the game asks you to Select visiting card recipient from two clients: the one you pick comes to the shop next. So you choose which client comes next. Who the pigeons are is on Twillford, and the mail commissions on Dorothy’s page.

Quick answers

• Is every gift a full star? The game does not say how much a gift adds, so check the client’s row after each one.
• How many stars can a client have? The row has five places.
• Can it turn into romance? Not so far: no romance option has turned up. More on the FAQ.