My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding Recap: Whoa, Mellie!

53 Comments

1. 1
   kthxbai
   Posted May 23, 2012 at 12:17 am

   @Pollyanna I think you did a great job! It was funny as hell and also respectful to the almost decades old culture of people that sign up to be on trashy reality shows.

   That’s why viewers can all count on this show to learn just as much about Rom and Travelers as Shahs of Sunset taught them about people from Iran and the Middle East.

   Which is how come this episode featured somebody that was divorced and went on a date with a gorja. The date was probably staged, but still.

   And how come a show that’s supposed to be about weddings has Halloween and Thanksgiving parties. TLC’s got to take what they can get.

   If you watched the UK show they did have more weddings but almost all the grooms made them blur their faces out. They wouldn’t be able to make a living. Because of gorjas with anti Gypsy sentiment and Gypsies with anti reality show sentiment.

   1 stereotype I think does have some truth is OCD cleaning. Which probably comes from old days when roads were dusty. If you know anybody from somewhere with a lot of dirt roads they’ve probably got at least a mild case of it.

   Like people that grow up tropical and keep on taking 30 baths a day. Even 10 yrs after they move to the North Pole.

   But it seems like Gypsies are more liable to want their furniture and everything to be white. To show off what a bad case of OCD they’ve got. Whether it’s a trailer or a house.

   It’s coming from those old days when it was hard enough to keep stuff clean in a house with a well in the yard. Much less riding around in a wagon before pavement was invented.

   Plus some Gypsy groups still keep some of those old old ways of hygiene taboos about separate sinks for hands and dishes. Or that a bathroom can’t be under the same roof as food. They don’t all have the same exact 1s.

   On the UK show they had some venue drama on every single episode. In the 1 you did in the election you could tell it was totally set up.

   It’s true some places won’t let Gypsies in.

   But they know which 1s will. Nobody’s going to waste their event planning time calling up some place that won’t take them. Whether they’re a Gypsy or a red headed Canadian. That’s producer staging. To show the discrimination. Plus I guess they think it makes good TV.

2. 2
   snowshoecat
   Posted May 23, 2012 at 4:28 am

   Great job, Pollyanna! Kthxy forgot to mention my personal favorite display of cleanliness OCD– brushing teeth with household bleach. Yup. I think the narrator gave a disclaimer about the practise, but Hubbycat was so busy screaming WTF and other indications of disbelief at the tv, it was hard to tell. My dentist frowns on my use of peroxide, so there ya go.

   So far I have preferred the English version, but the American uses almost as many subtitles. I’m sure they use the same group for the filming because many of the faces seem very familiar from epi to epi.

   I don’t know how far this program will go to dispel prejudice against gypsies, but it is entertaining. Looking forward to your terrific recaps of future episodes. Yay!

3. 3
   cherrylipgloss
   Posted May 23, 2012 at 4:44 am

   Hilarious first recap, but you might have been a little harsh on their clothing choices….I know the women in my family all wear toddler pageant dresses for Thanksgiving dinner…we just don’t desecrate the fine fabric by cutting out the entire middle of it….#showsomedecorumladies

4. 4
   whoochile
   Posted May 23, 2012 at 5:57 am

   great recap! I like the UK version of this better. They could have named this “gypsy shore” , snookie and the gang have nothing on our little gypsies. Why does the show not tell us how much these dresses cost? Especially the last minute ones? Does the Boston lady have several starter dresses waiting in the wings for last minute brides? There are so many things I want to know!
   @kthxbai, I love the extra insight, keep it up! The whole cleaning thing now makes more sense.

5. 5
   maryedith
   Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:26 am

   When these Romany ladies start entering their little girls in pageants my tv life will finally be replete with joy.

6. 6
   maryedith
   Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:27 am

   I myself like that they use the same group. I like seeing the same faces in different situations.

7. 7
   Pollyanna
   Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:34 am

   Thanks for the love everyone!

   kthxbai-thank you for the background information. It does seem like so much is staged that it’s nice to know how things actually are.

   snowshoecat-the thing that got me the most about the brushing with bleach is that her teeth were a nasty gray color – probably because the enamel had been eaten away.

   cherrylipgloss-I like to save the pageant dresses for Flag Day and just bedazzle pilgrim costumes for Thanksgiving:)

   whoochile- I also was curious if she just has a bunch of dresses ready. In the Halloween party episode it showed Priscilla calling her to order a dress, but they never mentioned anything like that for this one. Although, she had the dresses ready, so maybe they did. She carob ably make them pretty quick since there isn’t much fabric to them. LOL.

8. 8
   Closet fan
   Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:35 am

   Great recap! I am looking forward to reading them weekly. Whoochile, I remember the dress maker from the UK version said that they never ever discuss money. She said if she told anyone what someone paid for a dress she would lose all of their business. Thanks to Snowshoecat I caught several episodes last night. There is so much happening at once and I am blinded by the “diamonds” that I always see or hear something that I missed the first time around. Again, loved your take on the episode!

9. 9
   maryedith
   Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:35 am

   @whoochile — I want to know how much the dresses cost too! Why don’t they tell us? They showed the pitiful cost of a birthday party in one of the episodes. Are they amazingly expensive? Amazingly cheap? What’s the deal?

10. 10
    Pollyanna
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:37 am

    maryedith- I wish they would also follow up with some of the people the featured since its the same group. I would like to know if Priscilla stayed with Jimmy and is planning to marry him. Maybe they can do a gypsy pageant as a bonus episode:)

11. 11
    Pollyanna
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:39 am

    Closet fan- thanks so much! That’s too bad about not telling the price. I would love to know how much some of them cost”

12. 12
    Closet fan
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:46 am

    I would also love to know what they cost! Does anyone on here speak “gypsy”? If so please call Sonda pretending you want a dress with a million stones on it for a Memorial Day dress.

13. 13
    maryedith
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:48 am

    @Closet fan, I wondered if there was some kind of taboo about it — thanks for the info.

14. 14
    Closet fan
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:54 am

    The UK version did present it as a big NO No so I am sure there is. I don’t remember if the reason was explained or not. I believe that they pride themselves on being very money savy and if it came out that someone received a better price than they did it would make them look stupid. That is only a guess, I would love to know if that is a fact.

15. 15
    cherrylipgloss
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 7:57 am

    @Pollyanna #7…LOL and your predictive texting is waaaaay off today….

16. 16
    Nadine Lumley
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 8:16 am

    OCDC

    All night long ♪♫

    lololo

    - my jaw was on the floor the whole episode.

    I enjoyed the English one’s better, best line to sum up the gypsy ladies’s weddings and servant life:

    “Queen for a day; slave for life.”

    ♥

17. 17
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 9:05 am

    Call me cynical, but I would think that the cost of a dress would probs be roughly the cost of housing.

    Poor Pat Baby (Priscilla’s amazing dad) probs had to turn around and order a wedding dress a few weeks after Halloween.

    It is really a good idea to watch the show as a marathon as I saw the reruns last night. It really gives a better perspective than taken individually. The poor preggers Gorja bride tried to talk her new husband into settling down and getting a regular job after travelling for a while. He let her know in no uncertain terms that everything to be decided in that family was HIS decision to make. Gypsies are not big on equality.

    I imagine that is one of the reasons for having girls marry while so young– before any of that liberation nonsense enters their heads, mostly from being contaminated by Gorja influence. Of course, with freedom comes responsibility, and I suppose that many gypsy women find that comforting.

    Good call on the grey teeth. Enamel is highly overrated.

    Loved the male preening in front of the mirror.

    I think my new motto will be “Smells nice, looks nice, and didn’t say a single disrespectful thang to me all evening.” Sounds like a terrific basis for marriage.

18. 18
    maryedith
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 9:24 am

    I felt so bad for — is her name Lauren? — because I had noticed that her teeth were yellower than the other ladies’ teeth, and when she pulled out that bleach I was like “THAT’S WHY!” I like her; she was very nice to the preggers gorger bride, I thought. There is so much about these people that fascinates me and that I guess the show will never explain. I assume, for instance, that the men are allowed to bang gorger women after they get married and that the women probably don’t mind? Does anyone know a website with good info about American Romanies? I did a quick Google but came up mostly with this show and stuff about Romany culture in general.

19. 19
    maryedith
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 9:31 am

    Also, (sorry to go on), I love how there is so much drama about getting these amazing wedding dresses, so much buildup, and then the bride enters a church filled with…ten people.

20. 20
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 9:41 am

    Maryedith, I have a rather nice little list of sites you might like to read. snowshoecat1@aim.com and I’ll send them along.

    Oh and I noticed the teensy audiences at the wedding. But the reception hall seemed to be packed, and why waste precious party time on a boring religious ceremony?

21. 21
    maryedith
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 9:52 am

    True. But on the other hand these reception halls also seem to be pool halls, don’t they? Hard to tell wedding guest from regular customer!
    Thanks for the sites — I’m on my way!

22. 22
    whoochile
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 10:11 am

    @maryedith the wardrobes worn to the wedding seems to be another part different than the uk version. I don’t understand how none of these people dress up for the wedding, the bride goes coo coo on an elaborate dress and the attendees are wearing jeans!! The men definitely don’t dress up and the women don’t seem like they put a ton of effort into it either. Our USA romny’s need to take a clue from the gypsies across the pond.

    My daughter is going to college in Fort Worth Tx. Apparently there is a huge amount of gypsies outside of town. My bff is the manager of a very nice hotel in downtown FW, he says that when he books them for a party/reception he takes their cash and hires extra security and all is well. Sadly though, they gypsies down there also have a bad reputation for being disruptive at restaurants and being bad tippers!!! This is the scoop I have, can’t wait to witness it first hand. I’ll keep you all posted.

23. 23
    Liz
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:20 pm

    Gah, this show is hard for me to watch, but this episode was even harder. Mellie was abused by her husband, and her sisters’ get physical with her too. Don’t get me wrong, she needs to calm the eff down and not be such a hot mess, but, yikes. I feel bad for her.

24. 24
    aliens.rock
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 6:33 pm

    Here is the reason why UK gypsies do not like to talk about money. It is simply because they get a lot of money from the goverment in form of various benefits: child support, unemployment benefits, free “council” apartments.
    I know that because I used to leave in the UK. They really know how to work the system. They are scared to admit how much of the taxpayers money they can blow on those b.s. dresses and other unnecessary things. That is why they don’t want to talk about money! They are scared of someone from Tax Office or Unemployment Office to show up on their doorstep asking where they really got the money from!!
    From my personal experience: I knew a gypsy women back in England who offered to “lend” me her own children so I can take them to the Benefits Office (I don’t remember the exact name of the place anymore…) and get the child support benefits for them. Apparently that is a very common practice among the Gypsies… Children for rent. Also, they get apartments/flats from the government for free, and then they rent them out. I know this practice, because I used to live in one of those…

25. 25
    kthxbai
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 7:42 pm

    Wherever you go, you’re going to find people that have their list of groups they don’t like. And stories about somebody from this or that group. Talk about old ways. That shit goes back to before cave times.

    Every group comes with all kinds of people. And people in every group from big companies down to individual families will do what they need to do to get by. And if they can’t get by, they’ll figure out a way to get over.

    Near about every internet forum in the UK and everywhere else in Europe’s got a place where people can argue about whether Gypsies should be able to do this, do that, buy land, build on land they bought, or even live at all.

    But only here on TVgasm will you find thoughtful speculation about whether either Thelma Madine (UK) or Sondra Celli (US) are using genuine acrylic Swarovski inspired crystals.

    I’m going to be the 1st to step up and take a stand that they’ve got to be. Otherwise those dresses would weigh 400 lbs instead of 150 and the girls would have to put something thicker than Pampers on their hip bones.

    @Pollyanna You’re welcome and backatcha! I also have a guess that another reason neither 1 will tell prices isn’t about Gypsy ways. But business ways.

    Because what if it gets out that Priscilla got her dress for a cut rate because of TLC? Or for any reason. Then everybody else, Gypsy or not is going to want the same amount of crystals for that same price. Or less.

    Also when their costs go up. Like shipping or just the price of acrylic or whatever. People are still going to want their dress for the same $ they heard on TLC. Even after yrs have passed and they saw it on a rerun.

26. 26
    Closet Fan
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 8:04 pm

    The show is on again now. This is the third time i have seen it. I just saw Nettie’s nephew Cole. Remember Cole from the Sweet 16 birthday party?

27. 27
    maryedith
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 9:44 pm

    Yes, I remember Cole!
    @aliens.rock — wouldn’t you say, though, that people in England work the system more than they do in America? When I lived in Newcastle half the conversations were centered on how to get on the dole and stay on it without looking for a job, and none of those people were Gypsies. I think the wedding dress issue is a combination of producers paying for some dresses and not others, and Sondra Celli using different “crystals” for different customers and charging accordingly, like kthxbai said. I would just like to know a freaking ballpark number!

28. 28
    maryedith
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 9:45 pm

    I am not slighting English people, btw. My mother is English. I’ve spent a lot of my time there.

29. 29
    kthxbai
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 10:03 pm

    @maryedith Oh I didn’t mean that. I’m saying I think she has to use acrylic 1s for all of them. Or people couldn’t wear them! Even if they were free.

    Just think about how heavy glass crystals make a pair of dangly earrings.

30. 30
    cherrylipgloss
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 10:07 pm

    @kthxbai….ohhh, that explains so much….especially with the high demand for crystal coated dresses….

31. 31
    maryedith
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 10:22 pm

    Yes. It does explain so much.
    The first one of these that I watched was the Gorger Bride one and I was very confused about many things. Who were we supposed to think paid for that dress? Obviously the producers had too, right? But who did the Romany think paid for it?
    Another question: apparently many if not most of these weddings happen on the fly, so how does anyone pay for these dresses and how does Sondra make them so fast?

32. 32
    kthxbai
    Posted May 23, 2012 at 10:56 pm

    At least on the UK show the actual time and exact location was the on the fly part. But they planned the dresses and other stuff in advance like everybody else.

    The USA is so big I think you’d have to tell time and location more in advance too.

    Plus so far it looks like TLC could only get 1 USA group where anybody was willing to sign up. And that group seems like it’s been doing a lot of settling and mixing.

    So I don’t know if they’ll show any regular Gypsy events, with the 1000s of people from different groups coming from all over.

33. 33
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 24, 2012 at 5:21 am

    Wow! Thanks to the Gasmii who asked for the reults of some of my research. I waded through lots of sites to find articles and bibliographies that I thought were interesting and fun. One especially sad one was from Middle Tennesse State about Gypsies in the Holocaust. Tragic. No wonder they try to remain private.

    Even my parents had the word “gyp” in their vocabularies. There are gypsie grifters and gorga grifters. Maybe there are more gypsies living off of their wits because they must in order to survive. Imagine yourself an outcast and think about what you would do to feed yourself and your family.

    I noticed in the UK version that accent gives many gypsies away. Not so here.

    As I said before, I am beginning to recognize faces as the episodes unfold. Isn’t Cole the boy who tried to get the 16 year old to run away with him. but (fortunately) she knew her mother would kill her? Hope we get to see Priscilla again and others to see how they are doing.

34. 34
    Gypsy
    Posted May 24, 2012 at 9:30 am

    omfg @ssc what did you get me into??? LOL

35. 35
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 24, 2012 at 9:56 am

    Hey, Gypsy, I never did say it was pretty.

36. 36
    nancy
    Posted May 24, 2012 at 10:31 am

    Loved your show from Martinsburg, WV. I learned alot . I love to learn about other people and their cultures. Very pretty girls !

37. 37
    kthxbai
    Posted May 24, 2012 at 2:51 pm

    @snowshoecat I’m glad you mentioned the accent thing in the UK.

    The UK’s got both Rom and Travelers like most places do. (I doubt anybody could tell a true % break down.)

    You already know the Traveler groups started up in Ireland ( sometimes you’ll even hear them called Irish Travelers) And by now for stuff like Appleby or wedding season in Rathkeale both Rom and Travelers go.

    And with all the mixing (with each other, not gorjas) there are people that might have more Rom blood but they grew up with Travelers so their accent’s Irish even if they grew up in England. Sorry that’s so confusing.

    So the accent that gives them away is Irish. In 1 UK episode (or maybe it was a Dale farm show?) they even showed this lady that was bad mouthing them and she makes a EWW face and goes “Irish!”

    Some of them don’t even know much about Rom or Travelers or any of it. They’re mad because to them it’s just a mess of Irish people trying to live close to them. You can even find people that think Gypsy is another word for Irish.

    Most people probably know there’s a big history of anti Irish sentiment.
    In USA you don’t see it that much any more. But in UK you won’t have to look hard to find people that still have it.

38. 38
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 24, 2012 at 6:12 pm

    True, Kthxy, the “Irish question” will never be resolved, sadly. But it seems that the Travellers (Irish) have a double whammy in England. The Irish are more settled and insular. You don’t see them knocking on doors seeking work as the Travellers do. Both Rom and Travellers TEND to be more itinerant laborers, therein lies much of the prejudice.

    When I was a little girl in Chicago the tinker and the Ragman would go by regularly. They were gypsies plying their trades. They stand out and are easy targets for the prejudiced. People don’t stop to think that if people are allowed to work and support themselves and their families, they won’t cause trouble.

    So many groups are now settling in western Europe that the gypsies have become only part of the targeted groups. Prejudice isn’t going to go away, and in a way I’m glad that shows like this are at least making us aware pf gypsies as individuals.

    Too bad the show emphasize the differences.

    And too bad my iPad won’t let me go knack and edit what I’ve written. Pardon the typos.

39. 39
    kthxbai
    Posted May 25, 2012 at 3:07 pm

    @snowshoecat OMG! It looks like the next episode is in Murphy’s Village!

    This is so weird, I was all tuned up to say yes the differences and also how things are changing and then found that out!

    Because Murphy’s Village people used to not mix at all.

    For anybody that doesn’t know, Murphy’s Village is in a little town called North Augusta just on the S Carolina side of the border with Georgia.

    A lot of stuff on the internet calls it the largest Gypsy community in the USA. I doubt anybody knows enough to say that.

    More accurate is it’s 1 of the oldest groups of settled Irish Travelers. And big enough to be more known about than Gypsy groups usually are.

    But super closed. Or at least used to be. I never would’ve expected it to show up on TLC!

    So I’m excited to see what’s up with that! Did people from other groups go settle there with them or what?

40. 40
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 25, 2012 at 5:14 pm

    Kthxby, wow! Tv has been following them for quite a while– 20/20. But I thought the shows were trying to perpetuate the grifter image of the Rom. The stuff I read was pretty lurid. Especially after that child abuse incident. I’ve got a whole bunch of that, but it seems to be a wee bit slanted– like MBFAGW isn’t?

    Thanks for the heads up!!!! You’re the bestest!

41. 41
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 25, 2012 at 5:21 pm

    Here’s an example:

    http://fraudtech.org/travelers.htm

42. 42
    kthxbai
    Posted May 25, 2012 at 8:34 pm

    LOL You’d think any time somebody gets offered something that sounds too good to be true the last thing on their mind would be whether the person’s a Gypsy.

    (Although if I’m the 1 that got off with their $ I guess if they want to tell the popo it was some Gypsies..)

    1 thing that article forgot to mention is that Gypsy and non Gypsy scammers work the exact same way. Just like Gypsy and non Gypsy honest businesses do.

    Like those people found out when they wanted to take Pat Baby down as revenge for ruining the non Gypsy girls of Douglasville.

43. 43
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 26, 2012 at 4:21 am

    Poor Pat Baby! He is hilarious. There is just something about that little guy. Wouldn’t want to date him, but he is just such an open book (that he wouldn’t read even if he could). But he just sat there while his dad told the world all about him.

    Never could figure what he was doing on that drive, however.

    Can’t wait for tomorrow.

44. 44
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 26, 2012 at 7:18 am

    Found a hint to the price of a wedding/party dress. Sondra Celli said in an interview that she is often called upon to create a dress in just a few hours– gypsies often don’t give much notice. While she can’t create a “$7,500 dress in 5 hours” she can make a cute one. From what we’ve seen, plasticcrystals or not, I think that is a conservative estimate. Waaaaaaaaaaay too much time researching gypsies, SSC.

45. 45
    cherrylipgloss
    Posted May 26, 2012 at 8:00 am

    @showshoecat … wow! I had no idea they could be so expensive and yet look so cheap….my, my!

46. 46
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 26, 2012 at 9:03 am

    OOOOH CLG, that is my fave Dolly Parton Quote: “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap.”

    When we think about it. what else do they spend money on? Of course, Pat Baby’s liquor bill must be astronomical.

47. 47
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 27, 2012 at 4:28 am

    Well gang o’ Gasmii, it’s Murphy’s Village tonight! Haul out the bedazzled tees and we’ll settle in for a good ol’ time!

    I think I’ll put in that rush order for blinged out jammies so I can be all set for bed when I watch.

    Btw, Kthxy, checked out Pat Baby’s business ad. He has added fortune telling and party planning to the resume. Wonder if he is doing it all himself (since the Halloween party went down in gypsy history– and where is that taught?) or if he has put LouAnn to work.

48. 48
    Anonymous California
    Posted May 27, 2012 at 7:53 pm

    I’ve become a fan of this show so I decided to put in my own two cents. First, I came across several “travellers” or “pavies” in England (Irish travellers). I have to agree that they make their living by living on the “dole” (welfare), begging in pubs with their babies in broken down strollers (I was accosted on two occassions) and finding work on construction sites under assumed names, (actually, I found that plenty of English and Irish did that). I was shocked when I saw how the American Gypsies live: homes, designer dresses and lots of parties. I saw an episode on the UK gypsies where a young girl was driving what appeared to be a Porsche or, at the very least, an Audi. Admittedly, I was very upset when I heard about Mellie’s domestic abuse story, and even more upset when I read that she tried to go home twice, only to be sent back to her abusive husband. There was also an interview with a mother who talked about how Romni girls are never given sexual education – their husbands do that for them on their wedding night. Even more ghastly was when she said she had heard “horror stories” about a gypsy bride’s “education.” (I assume it consists of “lie still…”) But what bothered me the most was watching the Romani men brag about how the women don’ t need education or to work – they’re housewives. An entire society that does not support educating their women so that they can stay at home, pregnant and powerless is bothersome to me. Sorry – just saying.

49. 49
    snowshoecat
    Posted May 28, 2012 at 5:27 am

    Hi Anony! Nice to meet you and glad you are swelling the number of us who are here to discuss the Roms.

    Kthxbai and I have both studied the Romni sub-culture more than the others because it is a subject that fascinates us both– outside of the tv program. So, while I would not in any way consider myself an expert, I do have some familiarity with the history and lifestyle away from the camera.

    Gypsies have been persecuted for millennia. Wherever they went in Europe and, later, in America, they stood out in appearance, in language, and in custom. There was a problem during the plague years because, while most English at that time did not bathe regularily (Elizabeth I took an annual bath) gypsies were scrupulously clean. The result? Englishmen died, gypsies survived. Conclusion? They had magical powers.

    Readers’ Digest version: as a result of an itinerant lifestyle and discrimination, they could not get “regular” jobs and were forced to live on their wits. Best way? Con money from the ones who won’t give them a decent job. Of course they earn their living honestly and by hard work, but con artists thrive in all cultures, and they just have to turn to alternative methods more than others.

    Why get an education if you have little hope of doing anything with it? And the culture demands hard work, not book-learnin’ to survive. Boys learn the family trade, girls learn how to clean, and they marry before they catch on to the outsider (gorga in all its spelling variants) notion of equality of the sexes.

    *steps down from soapbox*

50. 50
    Carpedi7
    Posted May 29, 2012 at 9:40 pm

    I LOVE how Sondra Celli’s site is broken into 2 sides. One that says Classic Couture, with a cute little girl and one that says Bling with 2 girls in her hoochie mama dresses, because she “understands a gypsy’s fashion priorities”.

51. 51
    kthxbai
    Posted May 29, 2012 at 9:41 pm

    @snowshoecat I bet plague magic was the 1st example of Rom (and then later Travelers) figuring out ways to turn being picked on and persecuted around to their advantage.

    And even to this day! Like Pat Baby putting fortune telling on his list of services.

    While we’re waiting for the next recap here’s a couple of links that talk about some of the stereotypes.

    Richard J Waters is an older guy that’s a Traveler. Here’s his page on Irish Traveler Marriage Customs. His whole site’s good. (It’s old so be sure to run any of the links he has through WOT. Most are just dead but I didn’t check every single 1. Which has nothing to do with Gypsies BTW. It’s just general internet safety.)

    Pipopotamus is a Romani boy that has a blog. He also wrote
    My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding Ruined My Life (about the UK show)

52. 52
    Sarabear
    Posted June 3, 2012 at 5:52 pm

    CAN ANYONE PLEASE TELL ME IF PRISCILLA AND JIMMY GOT MARRIED?? Just finished the episode and it was the cutest thing i really hope they did and would love confirmation!

53. 53
    Norbert
    Posted December 29, 2012 at 9:45 am

    Hello!

    The sunroof dancing is in which episode?