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 .
We’re looking for local writers to write a book in one day and have it published in time for holiday sales. And, we’ll donate a portion of the proceeds to charity. All we need are provocative, poignant, and enlightening essays about “The Dress.”
It all started when my friend, Liza Long Walton, wrote a message two weeks ago on Facebook about seeing used wedding dresses in thrift shops. The response came faster than a nervous flower girl. We all have stories about wedding dresses (and some of us have multiple stories.)
So, Liza and I met over coffee and decided to publish a book of essays from women who want to explore the myth and meaning of the wedding dress. Thanks to the magic of social media and the Little White Dress Facebook page, we already have volunteer (meaning: unpaid) writers who want to contribute to the book. They include married, divorced, never married and gay women. We even have liberal, conservative, and lactose intolerant writers!
To make it even more interesting, we decided to write and compile the book in one day. (Liza and I are co-authors of Daily Erotica, and Mill Park Publishing is the publisher, so we’ve been around the writer’s block on publishing books.)
After another cup of coffee, we settled on the “Rules of Engagement” (pun intended) for our contributing writers:
Just think about that dress delicately packed in white acid-free tissue paper, wrapped in unbleached muslin, and sealed in a box with a view window that’s stored in the attic. Why do we save them? Or, are they destined to hang empty and forgotten in some thrift shop, waiting for another chance at the dream wedding? What’s your story?