I Wish I Lived In A Period Drama

Last night I watched the ever-delightful PBS drama North & South, and while I wouldn’t want to work in a cotton mill and perpetually look like I was caught in a snow storm, there were other parts of the drama that made me reminiscent for the old days of which I have never experienced, but have dreamt of often.

Can we not twerk, please?

All I want to do is go to a dance where there is no twerking.  Really.  That is all I want in this lifetime and the next.  I want to go to a dance and do a reel, covert glances sent between a dashing business man and myself as we pass each other.  So much flirtation happens during reels.  In any period drama, that is THE SCENE where the heady romance is planted.

Give me the dresses, corset and all.

I realize that corsets were probably awful.  The closest I’ve been to them is control top pantyhose, and considering I once had to take those off in a train bathroom after an interview because of the searing pain in my abdomen, I don’t think I’d fare well with corsets.  I’d be that person who passes out at every dance.  Still, the dresses they wear in period pieces are stunning.  I’m sure wearing all that clothing would be burdensome after a while, but I don’t care.  I just want to prance around in my petticoat and gown.  And then promptly pass out from the corset impeding my breathing.

I’m off to gaze dramatically out of a window.

I don’t know if this was just a North & South thing but all the characters seemed to spend a lot of time staring dramatically out of windows.  They did it at least five times every episode, which led to me renaming the drama Staring-Forlornly-From-Windows-A-Lot.  However, even with the excessive window watching, North & South cannot beat the pivotal window-gazing-scene in Pride and Prejudice where Elizabeth, having just refused Mr. Darcy’s proposal, literally sees his face on the grassy knolls on the carriage ride home.  So much drama.  So many grassy knolls.

Now I want to go stare dramatically from a window.

I’m sorry for laughing at your top hat, but…you’re wearing a top hat.

I

I can’t even handle this.  I realize that if I lived during this time period top hats would be as normal as a suit and tie.  Perhaps the JT of the time would even pen a song about it all.

As long as I got my top hat on…

But, come on guys.  Top hats are ridiculous.  Look at the picture.  The top hat is bigger than the basket of food he’s carrying.

All the dramatic hand touching.

Following all that dramatic staring out of windows, it’s only natural that there’d be some dramatic hand touching.  This is definitely not just a North and South thing as every period drama has some scene with characters inwardly losing their shit when they brush hands with the object of their affection.  Note – they usually suppress their feelings for said object of their affection until after the dramatic hand touching, because obviously it gives them the green light to go and propose, like, twenty minutes later.

This…just this.

This has absolutely not relevance to the post.  It’s just cute.  And from North & South.  And is a little spoiler-ey, but we all know couples get together in period dramas.  Unless, of course, they’re floating in the ocean following a ship wreck and someone won’t share their more-than-able-to-fit-two-people-floating-debris. (cough…Titanic…cough).