Downton Abbey's flapper finery
I have two usb keys in my purse. Both contain Season 4 of "Downton Abbey", provided via a son who knows how to delight his mother. (The series launched in North America on Dec. 1.)
The keys are for two friends who have avoided the UK chat rooms, and thrumming with anticipation, will spend till the next night or two up late, in a haze of stately-home bliss.
Season Four's clothes shift to the '20s; for the wealthy, the period between the two wars offered sumptuous fabrics for bodies newly-freed of pre-war boned corsets. Costume-wise, Season Four features the best wardrobe yet, especially the evening wear, heavy on beading, embroideries and art nouveau jewelry.
Lady Edith escapes dowdiness to embrace the halter neckline, finger waves, and a lover:
With Lady Mary in mourning attire, and Lady Rose too young to really strut, Edith snags the most alluring gowns:
Ensembles like Lady Edith's traveling suit taxed the wardrobe team's skills and the show's budget.
Lady Cora makes me want to give up jeans forever, to wear languid tunics over skirts:
And the pearls! The Countess still wears hers in nearly every episode:
Lady Mary, an ivory obelisk stunning even in grief, wears this flapper sautoir:
Lady Rose, the youngest, could step into today's Brora catalog, though 90 years have passed. Knit sportswear was new in the '20s, and like now, the young were the early adopters.
Today's Counties girl looks much the same in her cashmere Fair Isle.
This season's "Downton" reaffirmed the enduring grace of a velvet jacket, silk blouse, fine wool skirt: that sensibility. ("What", I imagine the Dowager Duchess intoning, is a logo?") After Season Four, running shoes have never looked so uninspiring. They wore heels, but they could walk in them!
The intervening 90 years have brought us welcome innovations (especially the ability to incorporate stretch into nearly any fiber), but we seem to have forgotten a good deal about tailoring.
Below, some of the cast in present-day attire. Michelle Dockery's Elie Saab shorts suit is of the moment, but can't touch the elegance of her Season Four drop-waisted dress:
Of course, not everyone on the estate could afford those luscious hand-sewn embroideries and dense velvets, nor can I today.
But what wonders were shown on the women in Downton's principle rooms and boudoirs! I was enchanted, and mourned that clothes sold at the end of 2013 retain only remnants of that workmanship.
The keys are for two friends who have avoided the UK chat rooms, and thrumming with anticipation, will spend till the next night or two up late, in a haze of stately-home bliss.
Season Four's clothes shift to the '20s; for the wealthy, the period between the two wars offered sumptuous fabrics for bodies newly-freed of pre-war boned corsets. Costume-wise, Season Four features the best wardrobe yet, especially the evening wear, heavy on beading, embroideries and art nouveau jewelry.
Lady Edith escapes dowdiness to embrace the halter neckline, finger waves, and a lover:
With Lady Mary in mourning attire, and Lady Rose too young to really strut, Edith snags the most alluring gowns:
Ensembles like Lady Edith's traveling suit taxed the wardrobe team's skills and the show's budget.
Lady Cora makes me want to give up jeans forever, to wear languid tunics over skirts:
And the pearls! The Countess still wears hers in nearly every episode:
Lady Mary, an ivory obelisk stunning even in grief, wears this flapper sautoir:
Lady Rose, the youngest, could step into today's Brora catalog, though 90 years have passed. Knit sportswear was new in the '20s, and like now, the young were the early adopters.
Today's Counties girl looks much the same in her cashmere Fair Isle.
This season's "Downton" reaffirmed the enduring grace of a velvet jacket, silk blouse, fine wool skirt: that sensibility. ("What", I imagine the Dowager Duchess intoning, is a logo?") After Season Four, running shoes have never looked so uninspiring. They wore heels, but they could walk in them!
The intervening 90 years have brought us welcome innovations (especially the ability to incorporate stretch into nearly any fiber), but we seem to have forgotten a good deal about tailoring.
Below, some of the cast in present-day attire. Michelle Dockery's Elie Saab shorts suit is of the moment, but can't touch the elegance of her Season Four drop-waisted dress:
Of course, not everyone on the estate could afford those luscious hand-sewn embroideries and dense velvets, nor can I today.
But what wonders were shown on the women in Downton's principle rooms and boudoirs! I was enchanted, and mourned that clothes sold at the end of 2013 retain only remnants of that workmanship.
Comments
Like you, I love the clothing. Oh to be wealthy in that age and wear these confections.
Abbey miss their costumes when dressed in their real clothes...
C.
This post speaks a bit to the slightly controversial post Tish had today, where she criticized sloppy passengers on her flight from Chicago to Paris. Didn't people dress so much more elegantly, back in the day? And now it's so easy to be the best-dressed person at the Wal-Mart!
---Jill Ann
hostess: There are still '20's influenced styles made, such as column-type cocktail dresses, and 1020s wedding dresses are apparently the in thing now- so if you look, you might find something.
C.: What a treasure! I would have loved to have seen you in your dress.
Gretchen: Like you I kind of forget it's happening till I can get it all at once, like a big box of vanilla creams.
Phillipa: Michelle Dockery is a true classic beauty. re the series, we are not watching for believable plot, but Julian Fellowes knows what (many) women want, and its gentle drama plus generous eye candy beats the violence and vacuity of so much offered on North American TV.
Jill Ann: I hope you do, it's delicious entertainment! re your comment about Tish's post, I don't dress like my mother did for air travel (suit- which in those days was only a skirt suit- alligator bag and matching shoes) but neither do I wear sweats.
Kris: I can only control my own posting and will not write a spoiler! (To that end, I deliberately avoided some photos I'd have liked to use.) However, hours might pass before I'm around to read a reader's comment, so I can't censor them in the moment.
C.
www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2084297/Downton-Abbey-how-dresses-ITV-hit-recycled-major-films.html.
Wendy
Wendy Gardener: Shoots are hard on any clothes- and in these period settings, compounded by age and delicate fabrics. Wouldn't it be fun to play dress-up in their wardrobe department?
C.: The inventory requirements to stock shoes in all those widths (which I remember too! No wonder they cut back. The average foot is now wider. Here's a Time article about that:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/16/size-8-is-the-new-7-why-our-feet-are-getting-bigger/
Wendy: Loved this article and hope everyone checks back to find your contribution; thank you! Fascinating to see Maggie Smith in same gown as Uma Thurman.
There are clothing eras that I love and the Roaring 20's is one of them. Wouldn't it be fun if they reprised that era in fashion Would you be game to wear a 20's outfit?
I've got a lovely blue blue and silver lace dress from my grandmother which I've worn a few times (I'm too big for it now). I think it's from the 1930s - the cut around the bodice is so flattering! I really need to get it looked at by a professional as it's discolouring sitting in a bag in storage.