Who did you say you were? (From Stroud News and Journal)

Who did you say you were?

No matter how old we get the dressing up box never loses its charm. This week the SNJ team visited Cotswold Costumes in Nailsworth where fancy dress is never out of fashion.

THERE cannot be many places in the Five Valleys where the Emperor of China rubs shoulders with Henry VIII and Austen Powers hangs out just round the corner from Marie Antoinette and her ladies in waiting.

Tucked away off Nailsworth's Old Market, the size of Cotswold Costumes comes as something of a shock.

The warehouse is filled with row upon row of costumes, with everything from convincing historical outfits to the plain bizarre.

Maud Franklin set up shop some 20 years ago.

"I used to look after the costumes for the Nailsworth Dramatic Society," she said.

"People would come hire them and the money would go to the society.

"Then when I was made redundant it was the obvious thing to do."

Now the shop has three dedicated members of staff and stocks some 2,500 costumes collected from attics or made from scratch.

"I make most of them myself and my manageress Jennifer McLaughlin also makes costumes," said Ms Franklin.

"She's wonderful with hats, which I'm not because I've got more of a two-dimensional mind."

Not all the outfits are made from scratch however.

Some come from attic clearances where people find old clothes they have not worn for years but are loathe to bin them.

"Old Army uniforms in particular are the sort of thing people don't like to throw out," said Ms Franklin.

"The trouble is they're usually too small - it's young men in the Army but older men who tend to want to wear the uniforms."

Cotswold Costumes has original clothes over 100 years old but these are reserved for known and trusted customers.

"They only go out under supervision," said Ms Franklin.

"They tend to be worn to respectable Victorian evenings where they're not going to have drinks poured all over them."

Not everyone's requirements are quite so proper however and some requests would make Victorians blush.

"We had a man who kept calling up asking if we had a French maid outfit and how short the skirt was," Ms Franklin said.

Dressing up can be a seasonal business and winter is party time in the Five Valleys.

"From Halloween onwards it builds up to New Year," said Ms Franklin.

"It's quieter in summer but all of us are keen gardeners so it works well."

But when it comes to the popularity stakes it is the hippy chicks and funky dudes who win hands down.

"The 70s are very, very, very popular," said Ms Franklin.

"That's definitely the most common themed party."

The shop's clientele is not reserved to partygoers and it is widely used by schools putting on plays, amateur dramatic societies and village fetes.

"We've been dressing the Randwick Wop for over 20 years," said Ms Franklin.

Some couples even tie the knot in fancy dress.

"Dressing up has become more popular - people are getting more extroverted perhaps," she said.

And she added: "Themed weddings are getting quite common and it's a lot cheaper hiring fancy dress than a tuxedo."