I was only 16 years behind the rest of you but I have just finished watching all of Downton Abbey for the first time! For whatever reason, I felt I would not enjoy it but it is one of Carolina's favourite series of all time and she convinced me to watch it. I'm so glad she did because it was jolly well brilliant! After finishing the series and the 3 films, I wanted to do a little project inspired by the superb costume design and the changes in fashion during the time the series is set; from 1912 to 1930. I enlisted Carolina to help choose outfits and she kindly modelled.
First up, we chose an outfit from our collection to represent Lady Sybil Crawley in season 1 of the series, during the early 1910s Edwardian period- specifically 1912. Sybil and the other Crawley ladies are in half-mourning following the sinking of the Titanic as they wait to greet the Duke of Crowborough. She is dressed simply in a purple day dress with a white collar and a delicate necklace.
We pulled this purple dress from the collection which fit the bill perfectly! Check out that back detail! We pared it with a pair of our reproduction women's lace-up shoes.
Next, we chose a 1920s dress to represent Lady Mary. Mary wears a burgundy red dress at the end of season 2 (1919 in the show) which she wears again a few times in Season 3 (1920 in the show). She styles this with black evening gloves and a simple necklace in 1919. Later she wears it with a long beaded necklace with and without gloves. It's wonderful ensemble!
We found a beautiful raspberry pink velvet dress in our collection, which we styled with black gloves, a black beaded necklace, a diamanté tiara and black shoes with rhinestone clips. Those chiffon side details on the dress really elevate it. So elegant!
We then jump to the third film in the series: The Grand Finale, which is set in 1930. Lady Edith wore a peachy pink lace dress with matching bolero to the ascot in the film, accessorized with a wide brim hat with flowers, a bead necklace, white gloves, a beaded bag and a parasol. She quite stole the show!
We have a lovely yellow dress and bolero set in our collection that we wanted to use to recreate the style that Edith wears. We think it tells the story well!
Check out the reel we posted on Instagram getting dressed in these looks! And do tell us which is your favourite!
Message or call if you are interested in renting any of these items for your film production.