The Prince and the Dressmaker

Creator: Jen Wang
Publisher: First Second
Publish Date: February 13, 2018

There are some books that come along and you wish it had existed when you were a kid. The Prince and the Dressmaker is one of those stories. Jen Wang (In Real Life) weaves a magical (but not overly fluffy) YA romance tale that beautifully incorporates gender fluidity, discovering and accepting who you are (and whose who you love), and some seriously gorgeous dresses.

The story takes place at the beginning of the modern era in Paris. Prince Sebastian, an only child, is being pressured by his parents to marry, but what he really wants to do is wear dresses – in secret, of course. When he finds and employs Frances, a young gifted dressmaker who willingly accepts him for who he is, Sebastian finds the courage to start appearing in public as Lady Crystallia, whose dresses and magnetic personality quickly take the fashion scene by storm. But how long can Sebastian keep his secret, and how long can Frances defer her dreams for him?

This is a gorgeous and charming YA graphic novel that can be enjoyed at any age. (Wang actually originally intended for the characters to be adults, but switched to teenagers – a great choice in my opinion.) Wang plays on the classic themes of discovering who you are, making new relationships and learning to voice your feelings, but with a totally unique and fresh story that is so necessary in this day and age. While of course, centuries back, the idea of men crossdressing was nothing short of scandalous – especially for royalty – it most assuredly happened, and Sebastian doing both means big stakes.

But those big stakes – losing your family and your life – these are things every teenager feels for exploring who they are, especially if you’re somewhere in the LGBTQ+ tent – or even just exploring it. And Frances feels this pressure as well, though we never see her parents aside from a flashback – her talent as a dressmaker makes her feel at times that it’s all she has, and without it, she is nothing. Sebastian quickly refutes her worry – that she has worth to him – and that’s what is so beautiful about Sebastian and Frances’ relationship. They do this for each other.

Sebastian’s identity and his orientation is probably of interest, and the will-they-won’t-they between him and Frances is tied up in this as well. (There is another young male character who appears, and I was waiting for a love triangle (or maybe even a double one!) to happen, but to my surprise it didn’t!) In this lovely panel, Sebastian explains that he feels just as comfortable as Sebastian (and we see him enjoying the ‘prince’ clothes Frances makes for him), but other days he wants to wear dresses- and he becomes Lady Crystallia:

In labelling terms, he could be bigender, or simply gender fluid. As for his orientation…the same may very well still apply even with the romance aspect between him and Frances. Of course, label’s aren’t all-important, and they most certainly didn’t exist back then, but I think it’s very important for audiences to realize that just because one dresses in drag, doesn’t have any bearing on one’s orientation. (Nor, unlike popular belief, does it have any bearing on being transgender. Sebastian never once says he feels like a girl trapped in a boy’s body; rather, “I’m a prince who likes dresses.”) Just because someone dresses in anything, doesn’t have any bearing on anything else.

Sebastian’s identity is Sebastian. 

It wasn’t necessarily important – because Lady Crystallia is only whom Sebastian wants her to be, and because the primary relationship is between Seb and Frances – but I didn’t get a strong sense that Crystallia was any different from Sebastian personality-wise. As Frances says, she’s like Sebastian, just “more.” It might have been interesting to see Crystallia try out parts of her personality – perhaps in other ways that Sebastian feels limited or stifled as the prince – or it would have been cool for her to have different lettering (I wondered if Sebastian altered his voice at all).

And also, the story isn’t completely about Sebastian – it’s also about Frances, a determined, hard-working young woman with a dream to become a renowned dressmaker. While at first, she dismisses Sebastian’s question “Aren’t you weirded out?” by saying it doesn’t matter since it’s her dream job, she clearly begins to care for Sebastian – until her own freedom is threatened. There is an inevitable falling out, and Sebastian’s secret comes out – but even with the expected YA tropes, it all feels very genuine, and the concept is fresh enough that you won’t even notice it while you’re reading the story itself. (For example, there’s also a “big event” where the climax of the story takes place.)

spoilers! assuming you’ve read the ending here –> Admittedly, I was a little surprised by the King’s reaction at the fashion show. While I completely accept that with time, he would have been able to accept Sebastian, choosing to actually crossdress at the fashion show seemed a little too quick. (Unless, like the father in Call Me By Your Name, he had his own interest in drag, but that’s never confirmed.) Everything seemed believable within the time period to that point and it pulled me out – but then I realized that, while it might be a stretch for his time, what’s more important is the audience reading it. It wouldn’t have fit the tone of the story – even for the sake of realism – if one or both parents still refused to accept Sebastian.

Wang’s art is whimsical and enchanting. I loved how teens are given exaggerated features – big round ears, sharp noses. Just about every page has a panel with no borders, giving it a ‘pop’ and adding some dimensionality to the page. Wang has a wonderfully unique drawing style, and there were some great anime influences when characters were shocked, angry or surprised. And of course, I’m not sure how much research Wang did for the dresses, some of them are absolutely stunning – yet entirely believable that one young woman could create them all. The sense of the dress’ movement as Crystallia (and even Frances herself, as you see above) add a lot of magic to the power (symbolic or otherwise) to the dresses – they’re the key to Sebastian’s freedom. It was fun to see Frances’ hard work behind the scenes, and Sebastian’s obvious appreciation for her, both during that process and as Crystallia too.

The color palette is lovely, and of course explodes whenever we see Crystallia on the scene with her gorgeous dresses. Wang lays out the panels very well, choosing some tense moments that require the turning of a page to see the resolution, and some lovely silent pages (like the one above) that don’t need any dialogue at all. Also, I loved how all of the characters had small pink blushes on their cheeks.

At the end of the book, Wang shows readers her process, including her pencils, brushes and inks, along with the steps she took in order to create the script, panels and drawings. I’ve seen behind-the-scenes content at the back of books before, but not in this step-by-step detail, or with a “you can do it too” tone. I love the idea that Wang is encouraging readers to also draw and create their own stories – and The Prince and the Dressmaker is absolutely inspirational material, especially for some young readers who might feel that this story in particular is the first time they’ve ever seen themselves represented.

The Prince and the Dressmaker really is something special. It’s the best of what “reading art” can be. It’s an important addition to the LGBTQ graphic novel canon, but one everyone can relate to; a story about becoming vulnerable and expressing your self, about support and acceptance and love.