And then as he stands there, holding me slickly to him and panting in my hair, I realize that we just had sex on a wine cask.

And that it was fantastic. I didn’t even have to worry about taking care of my own good time! Luke totally made sure I had one. Or two, actually.

“Have I mentioned,” Luke wants to know when he’s caught his breath, “that I think I’m in love with you?”

I laugh. I can’t help it.

“Have I mentioned,” I ask, “that the feeling is mutual?”

“Well,” he says, “that’s a relief.” He doesn’t move, and neither do I. It feels good to stand like that. Or, in my case, sit.

“I should also probably tell you,” Luke says, “that I decided to go ahead and enter that program I got into at NYU.”

I wonder if he can see my heart leap inside my chest. Although I try to sound casual.

“Really?” I say. “That’s funny. I’m moving to New York, too.”

“Well,” Luke says, leaning his forehead against mine and smiling, “isn’t that a coincidence.”

“Isn’t it, though?” I say, smiling back.

A little while later, we slip hand in hand from the cask room just in time to see the bride and groom cutting the multitiered cake. Agnes, spotting us first, rushes over with a tray of champagne glasses, and we each take one and stand, side by side, as Vicky and Craig feed each other the first piece.

“I hope they don’t cram it into each other’s faces,” I say. “I hate when they do that.”

“Plus,” Luke says, “then you’ll have chocolate stains to get out.”

“Don’t even say that,” I say, shuddering, and hug his arm.

“Why, hello,” Shari says, appearing, with Chaz in tow, a minute later. “Where did you two disappear to?”

“Nowhere,” I say quickly, blushing to my hairline.

“Oh, right,” Shari says with a knowing smile. “I’ve been there.”

“What are you talking about?” Chaz, clueless, wants to know. “You’ve been here the whole time. I’m the one who had to take that freak to the train station. I’ve decided that from now on, Lizzie, I’ll be screening all your boyfriends. You can’t be trusted to choose your own.”

“Is that so?” I say, exchanging an amused glance with Luke, who puts his arm around me.

“I’ll give you a hand with that, Chaz,” Luke volunteers. “I think Lizzie is more than you can handle on your own.”

Chaz, spying Luke’s arm around my shoulders, narrows his eyes at us.

“Hey,” he says, “what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain it to you someday, baby,” Shari says, patting him on the arm.

“Nobody ever tells me anything.” Chaz pouts.

“That’s because you’ve got to go straight to the source,” Shari says.

“Which is?”

“The LBS. Who else?” Shari says, tipping her head in my direction.

Which is right when an extremely tipsy Ginny Thibodaux spies me and hurries over to plant a kiss on my cheek.

“Lizzie!” she exclaims. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I wanted to thank you for what you did for my Vicky. That dress-it’s beautiful! You know you’re a lifesaver, don’t you? I’ve never seen anything like it. Why, you ought to open your own business!”

“Maybe,” I say with a smile, “I will.”

In conclusion, we have seen the important role fashion has played in the development of world culture and history. Starting from strips of fur worn for warmth and protection by cavemen gathered round a fire, to Prada shoes worn for their beauty and cachet by the modern working woman at a cocktail party, fashion has, over the centuries, come to be one of man’s-and woman’s-greatest and most interesting accomplishments.

This author in particular looks forward to seeing what surprises and innovations await her in the world of fashion-and beyond-in the coming years.

History of Fashion

SENIOR THESIS BY ELIZABETH NICHOLS