Dresses of dreams
When Skipton wedding dress shop owner Mandy Abramson invited women to try on her wedding dresses – even if they weren’t getting married – she caused quite a stir. Liana Jacob reports.
MANY little girls dream what their wedding dress will be like if and when they get married. When Mandy Abramson, owner of Skipton-based wedding dress shop Cinderella’s heard about a lady with cancer who wanted to try on wedding dresses she didn’t hesitate but to offer her shop.
It was February 2022, when Mandy’s friend Lucy Lawson, 48, from Settle, introduced her to her friend Molly Fuchs, 58, who is battling stage four breast cancer and wanted to tick things off her bucket list.
She wanted to wear a wedding dress as she had never been married before.
She modelled 12 dresses at Cinderella’s and posted them on Facebook.
To the pair’s astonishment, the post went viral with more than 200,000 views.
“We had an hour appointment where Molly came in and put these dresses on,” explains Mandy.
“Obviously we had a few tears initially, it was very emotional, but then after that it was a fantastic appointment, we had such a good time.
“When we posted her photo on Facebook, we didn’t even boost it and for a little independent shop like mine, it went absolutely viral – it got seen by over 200,000 people.”
Comments came in with many girls wishing they could have done this.
This inspired Mandy to host a biannual event where ordinary girls and women of all ages and sizes visit the shop and try on a wedding dress and take pictures – regardless of whether they were getting married.
“The joy that was shining out of her in these photographs was absolutely evident,” she says.
“Molly, like myself, is a curvy girl, she’s not a size 10 and she looks amazing in these dresses.
“Molly’s message to everybody is don’t wait until you’re dying to start your bucket list and she’s quite right.
“She’s an inspiration to me. I really admire her for it.”
Women have various reasons for coming to Cinderella’s and Mandy wants to challenge the stigma around body image.
“We do encourage ladies of all ages or sizes or shapes to come in; we do have samples from a size eight to a size 26,” she says. “It’s phenomenal. I get just as much enjoyment out of these weeks as these girls do.
“It is body confidence, this is what we’re trying to promote. If I can spend an hour of my time making somebody feel amazing, that’s brilliant.
“The number of people that messaged me afterwards going ‘I had the best day, I’ve been buzzing all day. I’ve been smiling doing my
Morrisons shopping’. It gives people a real boost and that’s why we do it.”
Molly described her feeling modelling the wedding dress. “I have been engaged twice but never married and the nicest thing was that my mum who was in her 80s got to see me in a wedding dress.
“I am a jeans and sweatshirt woman and before being diagnosed with secondary breast cancer I worried what I looked like, if others thought I was fat.
“That seemed less important in the grand scheme of things and being in Mandy’s shop for a few hours with new friends takes my mind away from everything else – just for a bit. But the overall feeling I get is joy, pure joy.”
Two other friends of Mandy’s modelled her dresses and shared their experiences.
“I originally got married 23 years ago and back then I had my wedding dress handmade
‘It is body confidence, this is what we’re trying to promote. If I can spend an hour of my time making somebody feel amazing, that’s brilliant.’
in Indian silk as I had fallen in love with the fabric,” says Lucy Lawson.
“So being able to try on and model a beautiful white dress was like a dream come true as I’d never originally done that.
“Myself and the three other ladies had a great time, we felt like Disney princesses.”
“It was inspiring to put the dress on. It did not matter our age, shape or size and where we came from – Mandy makes us look amazing. No make-up, nothing,” Laiza Menezes e De Souza said.
Mandy has been married to her partner in life and in business, Doug, 49, for 19 years. He designs the website.
Cinderella’s will turn 25 this year. Mandy,
52, a self-taught seamstress, initially set up an alteration shop called Stitches in 1999 based in Skipton before expanding her business and changing the shop to Cinderella’s after being asked to make bridal outfits. She said that she often wears wedding dresses whenever she is having an off day.
“I get to try on wedding dresses whenever I want – and I do.
“At the end of the day, if you’re having a miserable Monday, get it out and put it on. What’s wrong with it? I have absolutely no problems with that.
“You do get days when you feel a bit down, you feel a bit fed up, you feel just yuk, we’re women, it happens, and I just come to the shop and put a dress on and it soon cheers me up.
“I’m not a girly girl, I don’t own any make-up, I don’t own a handbag,” she adds.
“I am fully aware I’ve got the girliest job in the world but I absolutely love dresses.
“I love everything from completely plain, slim and slinky to that’s huge and I love ball gowns in particular.”
Mandy has a theory as to why many women feel so empowered in a wedding dress.
“We usually wear jeans and T-shirts, stretchy outfits,” she says.
“Generally girls don’t dress up on a daily basis because we’re just too busy but put a wedding dress on and it’s not only a special outfit and it does feel different when you put one on.
“But they’re structured, they make the most of your figure and they make you stand a bit more upright because of the structure in them and at the end of the day they [make you feel gorgeous].
“You shouldn’t have any boundaries, nothing should hold you back. Life is not guaranteed, you should just enjoy yourself.”
Mandy is not the only talented seamstress in her family, as her father owns a menswear shop called Time and Time Again in Ilkley and her aunt was also a wedding seamstress in Leeds.