THE GOOD

Last week I heard that there will be a new Reality TV show featuring one of my favorite designers, Amsale (pronounced Ahm-sah’-leh). If you only recently heard of Amsale, I suspect you were only recently engaged and do not work in retail. She has been designing bridal gowns since the 1980’s and making remarkable gowns the whole time. When I heard this, I had to google it to make sure it was true…. yes, it’s true!

The premise of the show, called “Amsale Girls”,  is about the running of her salon on Madison Avenue and the pressure they face to meet the needs of their extremely high end clientele. I am certain she will be the star, making regular appearances and infusing her timeless taste into our lives. Her ‘forever modern’ mantra might have been lost on the masses over the years but, timing is everything and realistically most people (right now) are in need of a healthy dose of good taste.

I am hoping she will give glimpses into the production aspect of the gowns as well –  for a host of reasons.  If the shows description on the WeTv site is true, all of the gowns in her salon are made on-site in a workroom by couture seamstresses. This is the part that I want to see!  The fact that someone has not outsourced their garment production to another country speaks volumes to me so, I will be placed directly in front of the TV for  the premiere of “Amsale Girls” on WeTv June 12th, hoping for the best and cheering for one of my favorite designers who I have had the pleasure of meeting on several occasions when I worked on the retail end of the bridal business.

THE BAD

On the other end of the spectrum we have a show that is more akin to a train-wreck than a TV show. I use that term a lot but, in retrospect I should have never used it at all and saved it just for this occasion. My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding is bad… really bad. It doesn’t show the darker side of the wedding business, it shows gluttonous consumers who are obsessed with over-the-top gowns, tacky decor, tart-ed up tweens and seem to overlook the fact that they are basically high-end homeless people. Of course, this show was imported from the UK and produced by none other than Simon Cowell of  American Idol fame and seems to have good ratings on TLC. Shame on TLC, I thought the “L” was for learning, in this case it seems to be laughing. I admit to watching it once but, that’s as far as I will go. I do have friends who think it is hilarious but, I think it is sad.  I can say is that whatever money the gypsies have to spend is not being wasted on charm school, it is being put back into the economy which is a good thing.

THE UGLY

My Big Friggin Wedding. I have not seen this show. I didn’t even know it was a real show until I accidentally ran across it on the internet. According to the review I read, this show would be  the child born from a marriage between Bridezillas and Jersey Shore. YIKES.  It is on VH1 which also produces the latter show, enough said. I don’t need to watch to understand that  fist-pumping, meatball eating, screaming, inappropriate behavior and guido-tacky is in store. I can assure you this is a Jersey thing and not an Italian thing. I am married into a large Italian family and none of them dress this way, none of them speak to each other this way and none of them spend that much time tanning, grooming and working out. Watch if you must. I will be watching something else, probably “Amsale Girls” since good taste is in such short supply.

By the way – Damn you, Nia Vardalos for titling your first movie so that everyone with any particular kind of wedding thinks it is okay to use your title with their words. Does MY BIG FRIGGIN GYPSY REDNECK WEDDING sound familiar? To Nia’s credit, do you think she ever thought of the negative impact this would have? Also for future reference – any wedding that is referred to as MY BIG FAT (anything) is a bad idea. But Kudos to Nia for having the ability to single-handedly add her slang to modern vocabulary!

-Penny Frulla for Bridal Expo Chicago