Reader, I married him*

The new BBC serialisation of Jane Eyre started last night. 4 weeks of sheer indulgence (and a bit of hiding behind cushions from the mad woman**). So, in celebration of this fact, Cat, Corinne and I took ourselves off yesterday afternoon to Belton House near Grantham, which was used for the scenes at Gateshead Hall.

It was a gorgeous afternoon, and the house was fascinating, beautifully light and airy, with a wonderful elegance, apart from the tv connections (it was also used as 'Rosings' in Pride and Prejudice), and we spent a lovely afternoon wandering through the house and grounds, and sampling the restaurant and gift shop.

The best bit, however, was the 'dressing up' room. You know how I love a big frock! Now it's frequently a bone of contention with me that they focus on children for dressing up opportunities***, but here was different. Not just a couple of dresses, but a whole rail, and not just fairly tatty costumes but ones with boning, and bustles, and proper underwear. Well, petticoats, and crinolines, it would have perhaps been a bit much to go as far as corsets!

And that was it, we were in there, much to the bemusement of some of the other visitors, but with the assistance of the very helpful attendant. Despite all my time working in costume, I'd never worn a crinoline before, and it was a revelation, the way it swung, and seemed to float around you, rather than the much heavier full petticoats. I was thrilled to find that I could actually get into one of the dresses, as I'd sort of resigned myself to being dresser and photographer - and I liked the colour too.

Of course, having got these dresses on, we didn't want to take them off, and the poor attendant was eventually packing up around us. But they have missed a trick in then not letting you wander the house 'in costume' as that would give a truly authentic feel (although it's probably against health and safety - grrr!).

Wonderful *sigh*

**seriously, she's scarier than a dalek!
*There just didn't seem to be a better title for this, even though it's ripping off the title of the current BBCFour Documentary on romantic fiction.
***and don't even get me started on why the Disney Store doesn't do Disney Princess dresses in adult sizes!!