Mrs. Stone was a somewhat unwanted customer at Sylvia's Separates who turned up on the first day of the sale and waited impatiently outside the door for opening time, snapping at Sylvia Matthews as she pushed past her to get into her own shop, "there's a queue here, you know."
She had been at the store many times before and had a reputation for trying on everything in the window but choosing sizes far too small for her "generous" frame. Among the names that Elsie Howard called her behind her back were Tessie O'Shea and Twiggy and suggested that her assistant Gail Potter tell her to try "Rent-a-Tent" as she struggled into supposed size 14. When Mrs. Stone had finally made her purchase, she looked at her watch and said couldn't believe been in shop for two hours and her Lily would wonder where she was. Bet Lynch knew Mrs. Stone and said she was as rough as they come but loaded as her husband was a property developer.