A simple message on Facebook captured the attention and creative skills of 25 women who spontaneously gathered on August 8th to write their stories about “The Dress.” Mill Park Publishing of Eagle compiled the stories into a book titled Little White Dress – Women Explore the Myth and Meaning of Wedding Dresses. The published book took six weeks to produce and premieres at a festive party and reading with the authors on Thursday, October 20, 20ll at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend, and proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to Dress for Success Boise Valley®.
“My friend Liza Long wrote a brief but poignant message on Facebook about observing used wedding dresses in thrift shops,” said Elaine Ambrose, owner of Mill Park Publishing. “The message prompted immediate responses from women who wanted to share their own thoughts about their dresses. The result, six weeks later, is a book full of tender, funny, heart-breaking, and irreverent stories.”
Long, a college professor and single mother of four, designed the cover, edited the stories, and wrote the Foreword to the book. She noted that the little white dress is a symbol of self, and that if a man really wanted to know a woman, he should try to understand her relationship to her wedding dress. Award-winning author Alan Heathcock agreed and wrote this review for the back cover:
“If I learned something about women from this awesome little book, it’s that each has her own dress, her own story; some of hopes fulfilled, some tragic, some funny, all compelling. Little White Dress holds the truths of humanity stitched into every poem and story. It sometimes made me laugh, sometimes made me somber, but always made me consider how the value of the dress has little to do with the fabric.”
The book’s 25 contributors include physicians, photographers, television producers, best-selling authors, filmmakers, professors, stay-at-home moms. They are never-married women, happily married women, divorced women, conservatives, liberals, and a few who regularly change their minds. They range in age from a teenager to grandmothers. Some preserved their dresses in museum-quality, acid-free, pH neutral boxes. Others eagerly donated them to thrift shops. The 120-page book sells for $10 and is available from Mill Park Publishing, Amazon.com and local stores. Some of the authors are available for readings and social functions. For more information, contact Elaine Ambrose at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Today with the simple click of the send key, 133 pages of our new book, Little White Dress, are magically traveling through cyberspace to the printer, less than one month from the evening we gathered to write about “the dress.”
Technical details: The book will be 4-3/4 inches by 7-7/16 inches, with a perfect binding, black ink on 60# white paper, and have a four-color cover with gloss UV coating. ISBN is 978-0-9728225-7-2. Price is $10.
Creative details: The book shares cheers, tears and fears from 24 women whose relationship with a wedding dress (or two) made a profound impact on their lives.
The book’s authors include physicians, photographers, television producers, best-selling authors, filmmakers, professors, and stay-at-home moms. We have never-married, divorced, gay, and happily married women, and even a former nun. Ages range from a high school teen to grandmothers. The stories will touch, inspire, and surprise.
Little White Dress will be printed, bound, packed into cartons, and delivered in October, less than two months after Liza Long wrote a post on Facebook about finding used wedding dresses at thrift shops. Liza’s message prompted powerful responses from women who wanted to write about “the dress.” So, of course, we decided to write a book and invite other authors to contribute. With an added hook, we decided to write it in one day and complete publication by October. Done.
Liza set up a Facebook page and sent a call for entries. Then we met at my house on August 8 for the initial writing. Some of the authors are from out of state, so they emailed their stories and poems. Liza formatted the text and designed the cover with a dynamite photo from local photographer Amber Daley. I secured a printing bid and other publication details and then laughed and cried my way through the stories. Our talented friend Amanda Turner assisted with copyediting. We expanded the book by 33 pages, and decided to donate a portion of the proceeds to Dress for Success. We finished the final edit at Liza’s house on September 1.
Our stories and poems about wedding dresses incorporate our passionate dreams, some fulfilled, some destroyed. The stitches of our dresses create significant pieces in the fabric of our lives. (Cue Carole King singing “Tapestry.”) Stay tuned for book signing events and festive holiday parties. Wedding dress, optional.