Thelma Madine is world famous for her extravagant wedding dresses. Thelma Madine will be well known to those who are fans of the British television show Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, although her dresses tend to be the real stars. The Liverpool-based dressmaker creates many of the huge, sparkly wedding gowns that appear in the show - pieces that partly inspired Kate Moss to get married. She told Vogue last year, "You can't believe the dresses. They're like blinging butterflies times 10; they can't move down the aisle! It's so genius." How did Madine feel after reading that? "Honoured and thrilled!" Madine has recently released a book, Tales of the Gypsy Dressmaker (HarperCollins, $39.99), telling of the dramatic story behind her gowns: financial breakdown, a messy divorce and a stint in prison for tax evasion, as well as her relationships with the travelling community and the young Gypsy girls who come to her for their fairy tale wedding gowns. Surprisingly, Madine's own wardrobe is bling-free: "I dress very plainly with block colours, no patterns, no bling," she explains, "I don't even wear jewellery."
A dress takes about 300 hours to make. First the dress is drawn out for customer approval. Then the girl is measured, before the corset is made by one particular member of staff. The underskirt is made by three members of staff and placed on a model. The skirt is then created, and the hand decoration and embellishment of that is done in a separate room using crystals, flowers. The skirt and corset are put on a model and every dress is checked by me.
The most memorable dress I've worked on was the one that was completely free from all embellishments made from pleated silk, incorporating structuring and tailoring - it didn't have any crystals at all.
How would you explain Gypsy girls' fascination with Swarovski crystals and shimmer? Because they love to stand out from the norm - the more bling the better. Over-decoration is the key. They learn that from their parents and the emphasis on standing out goes back generations.
How do you respond to those who say it's tacky? It would be a boring world if we all liked the same thing! Just because some people believe it's tacky doesn't mean it is - just different people's perceptions.
