A Close Encounter of the Strictly Kind...Part 4!

Here we are again with another of our random SCD-related encounters, can you believe we're up to number four?!

So, the BBC decide to put some dresses on display at BBC TV Centre, I have some time off work, it's a match made in spangly heaven and I go out and take some photos! Be warned it was a sunny day and I was taking them through some glass, so the quality is not the best. But if you're in the area they are totally worth a look at!

Here we start with Aliona's opening number frock from last year, just in case you were wondering it is held together with two bits of sparkly dental floss at the back!

Getting this close to the dresses was a real treat, this is Ali's Viennese Waltz dress, the detailing you can see is gorgeous, I spent ages staring at it!

Next up was Cherie's rumba dress, ooh what a sophisticated treat it was. If you look carefully you can actually see where the leotard bit is that all the costumes are built around. The mesh inset at the side also made remember just how very orange the contestants have to be!

Next I had a right old giggle at Joe Calzaghe's Eye-of-the-Tiger-what-the-bejibbens-is-going-on-here paso outfit! The welsh dragon detailing was great, can't believe someone went to the effort of making all that! I also went to the effort of going inside the studios like a stalker loon to get a photo of the back of the Calzaghe cape for you all. I had to say 'excuse me' in my politest voice to an old man sitting on a chair next to it and everything.

Coming back to some more beautiful frocks, here we have Natalie Cassidy's foxtrot dress. I remember thinking this was lovely at the time, but up close it is gorge-ous. The style makes me think of Erin and the stoning and detailing on it really is a treat. The back is just as good as the front, as with all good ballroom dresses.

On the end of the first half is the joy that is Julian's tour samba costume, complete with sparkly maracas! I saw this on the tour with Clover, we loved it so much at the time and it brought back some funny memories. Too bad there wasn't Lilia's seriously over-the-top outfit in the same colour to go with it, but I think it might have blinded passing pedestrians!

Turning the corner I saw the second half of the costumes and gasped in succession as I looked down the line, at this stage I wasn't too bothered if a security guard came to ask what I was squealing at! First up is both Camilla and Tom's Salsa outfits. If they could get anymore fringing on that dress then I don't think she would have been able to walk.

Next in line *gasp* Zoe's tango dress! This is one of my all-time favourite dresses (more on that later) so this was totally making the trip worthwhile. Zoe has a tiny ribcage by the way. Again get more intricate detailing and it looked pretty heavy.
Hitting me with shocks along the line, we then come to Louisa's jive dress! The jive dress, in all it's lime green spangly glory! *sigh* what happy memories. At this point a random man came by and decided to have a look at the dresses near me, I was tempted to shout "These are historical artifacts to me!" but I thankfully restrained myself.
And THEN came the one and only Ramps' salsa shirt! The shirt that caught on the microphone, but we won't hold that against it. By the looks of it Ramps has very broad shoulders, pwhoar.

Next up in the pleasant surprises is Rachel's' rumba dress, again the detailing in this thing that you might not have noticed on the show is amazing. This was a particularly hard one to get photos of as its so dark but it really is stunning.

And finally, last but certainly not least, we come to Zoe's American Smooth from last year. This really was a surprise for me, because I didn't really remember it but when I saw it I went straight back and spend the rest of the afternoon singling My Girl to myself. It really is gorgeous, like a strictly wedding dress!

That was the whole selection and it was a fun way to spend some time of an afternoon, if you are in the area I would certainly recommend popping by for a gawp. There were lots of other people having a nosy as they walked past, admittedly not taking photos and squealing to themselves but each to their own! Plus if you stick your head around the door and go into the foyer there are some rather amusing cardboard-cut-out surprises!