Hard to Say "Good - Bye"!

                                               Saying Good Bye - Downton Abbey

Season 6 is the final season for this wonderful Masterpiece theater series.  So we'd like to share a brief snap shot of the styles of a few of the key female characters from this cast.  We've seen the show move through the Belle Epoque period (1871 - 1914) to the Art Deco era (1920s - 1930s).  And, as the show travels through the decades so do the fashions and the individual styles of the central characters - so let's have a look.  We will recap the comments of the talented Anna Robbins, the new (Season 5) costume designer for Downton.  Here is what she sees as, "the signature styles of the women of Downton."





Lady Mary ~







                                                               

  

Lady Mary:  played by the stunning Michelle Dockery.  Anna Robbins describes Lady Mary's style as "stylish, yet cutting edge, and always classic".  With Mary we see solids more often than patterns or florals.  We see the use of color blocking in the vein of Chanel or Lanvin.  Geometric sophisticated clean lines are used along with the color blocking.  Mary's personality is reflected with the use of bold strong colors.  She is the next generation, which will some day take over Downton.  So her colors often reflect those of the home and the Estate.  Robbin's has certainly accomplished her stated goal,  "of dressing Mary with looks that work in every room".

Lady Edith & Lady Rose ~

                                                     

Lady Edith ~

Lady Edith: played by the lovely Laura Carmichael.  Robbins has said that this is "one of her favorite characters", the only one of the Ladies that has an actual job.  Edith is the daughter who is an early career woman.  This character has had a great many unique challenges; as she is a working woman with a child.  This is so  rare for her social position at this time.  Demonstrating Edith's strength and determination, has allowed Robbins to create costumes for Edith that are a bit more "alternative" or edgy.  Because Edith's career has taken her to London we can look forward to even more of a unique cutting edge of fashion for her.

Lady Rose ~

Lady Rose: played by the pretty Lily James.  Robbins uses a different color palette for this young
beauty.  Typically, her fashions are a bit more delicate.  They are often done in soft blues and pinks.
Anna Robbins enjoys that is color palette because it allows her to use original dresses with more embellishments even "pretty dresses" with florals that would not work on Mary or Edith.

Cora ~

Cora: played by the beautiful Elizabeth McGovern.  Fluidity and elegance are the words used by Robbins for this character.  These characteristics were inspired by Elizabeth McGovern herself according to Robbins.  She has added touches of "the exotic", for ex. the Orient and other distant places to signify that Cora is not from England.

Violet ~

Violet:  The Dowager Countess, played by the wonderful Maggie Smith.  Robbins explains that

the Dowager Countess style too has evolved.  While she remains the same "sensible" character,
you might see slightly lower necklines, she looks and feels less "stifled".  She wears subtle colors
done in beautiful silks that move.  As Anna says "Only the best for her, really."

Ms. Robbin's approach to each character is beautifully representative to each personality.  For example she explains that if she were to use the color pink; for Lady Rose it would be a soft powdery pink, for Edith it would be a peachy pink, and for Mary it would be magenta.





More interesting facts about Downton from Anna Robbins:

-  About 60% of the costumes are made from scratch

- Some of the original 1920s dresses can cost thousands of dollars and then they will have
to be restored and altered (often taking days if painstaking work).  After Anna finds the right frocks
at vintage fairs in London and Paris she sends them off to her 'beader' (who typically has 3 days), and
a 'cutter'  and 'maker' will make a slip to go on the bottom (this takes another couple of days)

- For original items Anna often sources fashion "traders" in Scotland

- Making design from scratch takes about 4 days, if making a suit it will take longer

- Maggie Smiths costumes take the longest to create due to all the details and many layers

- The fabulous hats used are also a combination of original hats and ones made from scratch - Anna Robbins uses Sean Barratt to make the hats they were not able to source.  An additional challenge with hats is the designers must not only consider the styles of the day but the age of the character.  As the older characters hair styles and fashions are a bit more classic vs. on trend.

- Andrew Prince the jewelry designer used on the show feels the most important thing is not to match the jewelry to the costume but to the age of the person.  Using Maggie Smith's character of the Dowager Countess her jewelry would be Victorian and Edwardian pieces rather than Art Deco pieces.
When he created jewelry for the show he saw it as a background pieces supporting the character's image.

For all of us who LOVE vintage the end of this wonderful series seems a sad loss.  And, for all of us who love good drama, romance, and suspense, and are not ready to say "Good-bye" to Downton - the memory of this beautiful story and these fascinating people will be with us for a long time.  So we will say a reluctant "Good-bye" and an enthusiastic  "Thank You"!

Sources:

www.polyvore.com (images of characters)

Interview with Anna Robbins www.pbs.com

www.glamour.com

www.pinterest.com

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Violet ~

Violet, Dowager Countess, is played by the wonderful Maggie Smith.  Robbins explains that

the Dowager Countess style too has evolved.  While she remains the same "sensible" character,

you might see slightly lower necklines, she looks and feels less "stifled".  She wears subtle colors

done in beautiful silks that move.  As Anna says "Only the best for her, really."

Anna Robbin's approach to each character is beautifully representative of each personality.  For example she explains that if she were to use the color pink,  for Lady Rose would be a soft powdery pink, for Edith it would be a peachy pink, and for Mary it would be magenta.  As folks who love Vintage Fashions this wonderful show will be missed.  As fans that love good drama these wonderful ladies and their fabulous fashions will be with us as long as our memories and DVRs remain.  Thank you ladies you will be missed but not forgotten.