Tales of the Gypsy Dressmaker
by Thelma Madine | Biographies & Memoirs | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0007456964 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0007456964 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Plum-crazy of Brighouse, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on 11/30/2021
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Plum-crazy from Brighouse, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, November 30, 2021
I've never watched 'Big Fat Gypsy Weddings', apparently the most-talked about TV show of 2011 (according to the book's blurb anyway!) & this is "the much-anticipated memoir" from Thelma Madine, the dressmaker and breakaway star from that show. Will give it a go as part of my 2022 Non-fiction Reading Challenge
Although I've never watched "Big Fat Gypsy Weddings" I was aware of the gypsy brides' desire for huge, voluminous dresses & this memoir is by the woman who created many of them.
I don't really know what to make of Thelma. Part of me admires the way she's built up her businesses & made them a success but at the same time, in some ways she doesn't seem to have learnt from some of her previous mistakes, but we're all human...
As to the dresses...well, I was never a girl who dreamed...let alone planned...about getting married & to be honest when I did, my only stipulation about my dress was it had to have long sleeves, so I can't really connect with this desire to have a bigger & more expensive dress than anyone else. But these brides are very young, & apparently their role in life is simply to clean & bear children (an archaic attitude to me but who am to judge how some else lives?) so maybe the dream of having an extravagant, fantastic wedding gown is understandable, allowing them their moment to shine.
Though a bit repetitive at times - the arguing & haggling being a prime example - it's an interesting read & there's no denying the dresses are amazing....& often painful to wear too by the sound of it. While I loved the photos, I wish they'd been a bit bigger so I could see the details of the dresses better - I couldn't make out the swan on the swan -pumpkin dress!
Read as part of my "Set-It-Yourself" Non-fiction Challenge 2022
Book#4 (target 12)
I don't really know what to make of Thelma. Part of me admires the way she's built up her businesses & made them a success but at the same time, in some ways she doesn't seem to have learnt from some of her previous mistakes, but we're all human...
As to the dresses...well, I was never a girl who dreamed...let alone planned...about getting married & to be honest when I did, my only stipulation about my dress was it had to have long sleeves, so I can't really connect with this desire to have a bigger & more expensive dress than anyone else. But these brides are very young, & apparently their role in life is simply to clean & bear children (an archaic attitude to me but who am to judge how some else lives?) so maybe the dream of having an extravagant, fantastic wedding gown is understandable, allowing them their moment to shine.
Though a bit repetitive at times - the arguing & haggling being a prime example - it's an interesting read & there's no denying the dresses are amazing....& often painful to wear too by the sound of it. While I loved the photos, I wish they'd been a bit bigger so I could see the details of the dresses better - I couldn't make out the swan on the swan -pumpkin dress!
Read as part of my "Set-It-Yourself" Non-fiction Challenge 2022
Book#4 (target 12)
Journal Entry 3 by Plum-crazy at Nonfiction Book Box, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Released 1 yr ago (2/8/2023 UTC) at Nonfiction Book Box, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Added to the Non-fiction bookbox
Released as part of the 2023 TV BOOK RELEASE CHALLENGE (#9)
Released as part of the 2023 TV BOOK RELEASE CHALLENGE (#9)
Journal Entry 4 by Poodlesister at Walthamstow, Greater London United Kingdom on Saturday, March 18, 2023
The non-fiction bookbox is back with me
Journal Entry 5 by Poodlesister at Blackhorse Road Station Bookshelves 📚 in Walthamstow, Greater London United Kingdom on Sunday, March 19, 2023
Released 1 yr ago (3/19/2023 UTC) at Blackhorse Road Station Bookshelves 📚 in Walthamstow, Greater London United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I'm not going to read this and I won't be setting up a new non-fiction bookbox for a few months so I am releasing this book on the shelves at Blackhorse Road station.