From the
BLURB:
Paris, at the dawn of the modern age:
Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride—or
rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding
his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris
by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia—the hottest fashion icon in the world
capital of fashion!
Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is
the brilliant dressmaker Frances—one of only two people who know the truth:
sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being
someone’s secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances
defer her dreams to protect a friend? Jen Wang weaves an exuberantly romantic
tale of identity, young love, art, and family. A fairy tale for any age, The
Prince and the Dressmaker will steal your heart.
‘The Prince
and the Dressmaker’ is a YA graphic novel released in February 2018, written
and illustrated by Jen Wang.
Prince
Sebastian is 16 and feeling the weight of a soon-to-be Kingdom on his
shoulders. Frances is also 16 and a seamstress with dreams of wild dress
designs to grace fashion runways and stages.
One day
Frances designs a wildly inappropriate and fabulous dress for a socialite that
lands her on the gossip pages – and out of a job. But Sebastian is enamoured of
her design and has a proposition for her – to become his private dressmaker.
Because Sebastian has two sides … one is a dutiful Prince, currently appeasing
his parents by meeting eligible princesses to potentially marry. The other side
of him, however, craves luxurious fabrics and fabulous outfits that transform
Sebastian into the flame-haired Lady Crystallia. Nobody knows his secret,
except private secretary Emile – and now Frances. Who agrees to become his very
private designer and dressmaker, and together they’ll be the talk of the town.
‘The Prince
and the Dressmaker’ is a subversive fable – a gender fluid celebration
encouraging an embracing of ones true selves. I love that this YA graphic novel
exists, and is telling such a complex but necessary story. That there’s also a
romance in here between Sebastian and Frances, a gentle and yet bracingly uncomplicated
unfolding, is also something to truly admire.
And I did
really enjoy reading this, but I didn’t love it the way I wanted to. One aspect
that I wanted amplified was the dress styles portrayed – a lot of them looked
like somewhat ho-hum Disney Princess styling’s, and I was more hoping for
Disney-meets-Lady-Gaga with the volume turned up to 150.
The other
aspect I thought was just a little too gentle was Sebastian’s secret reveal. The
fallout didn’t feel big enough for the pacing, like it wasn’t enough of a ‘Sebastian
at his lowest point’ to properly meld with the dramatic finale.
At the back
of the book, Jen Wang reveals that her original idea for the story had Frances
and Sebastian as adults, before she changed her mind and thought telling this for
a teen audience would be more powerful. I agree – I absolutely think this
graphic novel being YA is impacting and meaningful for a readership that needs
more nuance in all diverse tales. But seeing the rough sketches of the characters
as adults, and the barest hint of something more tantalisingly sexual and
lustful … I think that could have amped the story up even more, and would have
benefited from it. And I’ve no doubt I also think this because I have recently
discovered the joys of adult comic book publisher, Iron Circus Comics – via the very romantic
and erotic, 'Letters
For Lucardo' by Noora Heikkilä.
So, yes – I enjoyed
this graphic novel. But I would have loved everything to be more drama and just
amped up a little. From the dresses to the fallout, I’d have loved just … MORE!
3/5
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