The Perfect Dress - Louisa Leaman

Description

Fran’s wedding dress shop isn’t like any other. A treasure trove of history, filled with gowns from every decade for every type of bride. But not as you’d expect.

Something bold for the shy and retiring.
Something simple for the woman who is unafraid to stand out.
And something dazzling for the bride who wouldn’t normally dare to be different.

No matter your expectations, you’d never guess your own perfect dress. But Fran knows… she feels the wisdom woven into every gown, a gift from the previous owner waiting to be handed down to the next bride.

When Fran finds a dress that seems to be perfect for her she can’t wait to know its complex history which starts with her getting to know the son of the previous owner…

Review

What an absolutely lovely book this is, especially for someone like me who loves fashion, fabric and arts and crafts. The author's sumptuous details of all of these themes made the book an absolute haven for me. She even had a reference to William Morris and his home in Walthamstow.

Fran runs a vintage wedding dress shop but there is so much more to it than that as she traces the history of the original owners of the dresses. She also has a kind of second sight and can sense things by holding dresses. Early on in the book there were some things Fran did that I thought a little strange, but I just went with it whilst wondering if she was trying to self destruct at times.

I loved the part where the Instagrammer wanted a wedding dress, so on trend and believable too. All of the fashion details were spot. I also liked the veiled reference to the Liz Hurley dress, easily missed and not important to the story, but for someone who knows fashion it was the icing on the cake.

Mixed in with all of this is a little romance (and a little saucier at one point) at times it felt almost Austen like with a modern day twist in it's plot. I just loved the ending.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and look forward to more from this author.

My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC to review.

Comments

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