Tales of the Gypsy Dressmaker [Hardcover]

Thelma Madine makes dresses that every gypsy girl wants to wear, the star of 'My big fat gypsy wedding'Big Fat Gypsy Weddings - Series 1 and 2 Box Set [DVD] Thelma gives us a frank look at her life, the highs and lows. The financial troubles, 107 foot trains, divorce, sequins and prison (yes she's been in prison).
See what it takes to have regular business dealings with the gypsy community and what it took to build that relationship. I loved this book, it shows one woman's struggle to make it in life and how hard work and determination can do it. An easy read and one that I finished in almost one sitting. I will watch MBFGW in the future with a new found respect for Thelma Madine.

When you read this you feel almost like it is a someone whom you have met in person that is telling the tale.

Now I have seen a couple of the programmes about The Gypsy Weddings and was amazed at just how much a couple of the dresses were. But what amazed me the most was what Thelma went through to get to where she is now. Certainly not a tale of being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right people. More of dealing with life in the tough lane but just getting on with it. How she explains what went on with her life and how much it has changed since doing those 'different dresses', well you can make a programme just on that. You can not blame her for doing the book, why not make money on something you are good at, she has found a niche and good for her.

Down to earth and that is probably why she is as good as she is at her profession. Thelma never appears to have heirs and graces and maybe that is why her clients chose her as they knew they would have an honest opinion and someone that said it as it is. Sometimes they may not like her opinions but in the long run her dresses speak for themselves, each creation different and so over the top.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, had been looking at it to order beforehand so to be offered it to review I jumped at the chance.

I've never watched the associated TV series, and the whole gypsy wedding dress thing is a mystery to me. (The tradition, and Thelma Madine's dedication to supplying its needs, made a bit more sense to me after reading her explanation "what they [i.e. people like me] don't get is that it's all about fantasy"; Madine explains how she grew up obsessed with costumes in films, watching Gone with the Wind over and over again just to study the dresses.) However, as my daughter watches the series, and has some knowledge from a former job in a related sector of the fashion industry, I thought both of us should give it a go.

Madine chronicles her progression from making children's dresses for Catholic Communions in Liverpool to designing and making the much more elaborate creations required for traveller weddings. She gives an entertaining account of her ups and downs catering to her very demanding customers. She comes over as a determined, feisty individual. These are evidently useful qualities when negotiating with travellers; as she wryly comments, "sometimes I feel I'm becoming more experienced at haggling than I am at making dresses!" This applies to two linked issues: the haggling process itself, which is second nature to travellers, and the expectations of the customers about the product; as she says, to them "a dress is a dress, no matter how opulent, carefully made or intricate it is, and no matter how long it takes to make."

The book told me quite a bit about the traveller community, e.g. culture and morality, the significance of their weddings and the courtship ritual called "grabbing". There was less new stuff in it for my daughter; as she pointed out, much of it has already been covered by the TV series, though she feels that the book adds more detail to some topics.

Additional comments from my daughter:
-The book is a fair reflection of Madine's personality as seen on screen
-As a follow-up for someone who has already seen the TV series, the book goes into more depth and gives you more of a perspective. Because of this, it can be a good conversation starter for talking about the more general issues, whereas with the programme on its own it's usually a case of `did you see that dress last night? it was HUGE!!!!!"
-It would be more interesting if Madine were willing to reveal more trade secrets about the dressmaking techniques, and gave more idea of prices (the only time she mentions this to us is when she quotes a science-fiction price to an awkward customer in order to put them off)
-There are several colour photos, but as they are all small they don't do justice to the dresses

Overall verdict: an interesting read, but, as the target audience is presumably those who watch the TV programme, the book is likely to leave them wanting a bit more.