The Prince and the Dressmaker

Is there anything Jen Wang cannot do? This is just stunning in all ways.

This was a quick, lighthearted read. I enjoyed the drawings, the insight into the character’s feelings, and the connection between the two main characters, as well as the theme: BE YOURSELF AND DO NOT FEEL GUILTY.

Frances works as a lowly seamstress at a very fine tailor who caters to a fine clientele. A woman along with her daughter comes in and her daughter could care less about what she’s going to wear. She figures, just take this frock, alter it and “‘whatever” attitude. The thing is, it is due the very next day. Tall order for such a short time to get ready for a ball. Frances really looks at the dress and sees the lack of enthusiasm of the young girl. She decides to stay overnight and work on the new creation. The following day, the girl gets her dress delivered and you see a close up of the shock on her face. Then you later see her at the ball and she is rocking the most avant garde outfit you’ve ever seen during those high society balls. Yet you see this girl loving it.

This grabs headlines as people notice. A gentleman’s gentleman comes into the shop to inquire about the seamstress who created this dress and the owner declares he's about to fire the girl (Frances). Good, because she’s just been hired for being the personal dressmaker for a private patron.

Later we find that patron to be none other than Prince Sebastian. He first greeted her with a nightgown but with a handkerchief upon his head. He excuses himself explaining, she has a condition. Frances accidentally trips on Prince Sebastian’s gown and the secret is revealed. She is really Prince Sebastian. He explains he’s most comfortable in dresses and he wants to have a dress that will match his wig. Later, he enters a contest for Miss Marmalade and wins. When they ask her for her name after she walks the runway with the newest creation from Frances, Prince Sebastian suddenly blurts out, Lady Crystallia. She is now the toast of the town and the hottest fashion icon not only in Paris but it reaches all over the fashion world. Lady Crystallia is IT and she is on FIRE, thanks to Frances.

This is all great with the exception of one hiccup: his parents. They don’t know Prince Sebastian is really Lady Crystallia and they want their only son to get married so that he can take over the throne, one day. The king is not getting any younger and he wants to ensure his successor has a family and a woman to love and love him back. They begin hosting ladies to come meet him.

In the meantime, Prince Sebastian is becoming closer to Frances as they will sit and ponder for the next avant garde creation for Lady Crystallia to wear. As they become best friends and closest confidants, Prince Sebastian wishes he could just be Lady Crystallia whereas Frances wishes to be recognized for her creations. It does not bother Frances the slightest that Lady Crystallia is really Prince Sebastian and vice versa. She just knows they are friends and friends have each other’s backs, right?

Well unfortunately, when someone has not made a full disclosure to not only his parents but the world included, promises are broken and feelings get hurt. How long will Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend’s?

This YA graphic novel is a beautiful tale of identity, self-love and acceptance, young love, family and the love of fashion.

Beautiful and heartwarming quotes:
“I'm a prince who likes dresses.”

“My whole life is other people deciding what's acceptable. When I put on a dress, I get to decide what's silly.”

“You're a secret, which means I'm a secret!”

“Your name is on the dress but the dress has none of you in it!”

“When I first learned the truth, I thought Sebastian's life would be ruined. But seeing you, I realized everything would be fine. Because someone still loved him.”

I LOVED this book.

The illustrations were beautiful, the plot was well-executed and poignant, I was so invested in these characters...

Why I picked this book up, though, might be the best reason for it. We had been sharing book recommendations on the last day of real school. Each student got to suggest one and why they thought it was a good book, why they liked it, what it was about, etc. Anyway, the period ends, we have our list printed and distributed, and as the students start to file out (slowly, because 10 and distractible), one of my kids kind of sidles up to me. They said they wanted to recommend a book to me but not to the class, because they didn't think the class was ready for such a book but they knew I'd enjoy it.

It was this book.

And what a wonderful book it is. I am so grateful they recommended it, because now I'm going to be recommending it to literally everyone!

In love. I am utterly in love with everything about this!!!

I don't often pick up graphic novels but this has been on my to-read for a while and my library had a copy so here I am an hour later so so happy to have this cute little story and these adorable characters in my heart!

The plot is a pretty innocent and predictable one, but is executed so well and illustrated so beautifully that i could not put this down and pored over all the little details - I especially loved Sebastian's cute little face and expressions.

Jen Wang in her final notes shares how this could've been a story about an adult Sebastian and Frances, but I'm so glad Wang went with teenagers because it definitely hit that much harder.

Would recommend for anyone looking for a cute fairytale like story about gender fluidity, identity, art and romance.

TW: forced and public outing (please check other warnings and stay safe!)