Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction and a close associate of D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf.

'New Dresses' is the story of two sisters whose mother and grandmother have made them new dresses. One sister, Rose, is a model child in her mother's eyes - pretty, tidy and clean. The other, Helen, is always in trouble. Her mother wonders how on earth Helen will manage to keep her new dress clean and neat.

When Helen accidently tears her new frock, disaster threatens...but Helen herself, her grandmother and the charismatic Dr. Malcolm have other - albeit different - ideas.