The Costumes of Downton Abbey
Sara Butler Professor Emerita, Miami University Volunteer, Butler County Historical Society TODAY
PBS Series Behind the scenes: the costume design process
The upstairs and downstairs characters
Movie New characters
Changes in continuing characters – or not
Clothing from Butler County Historical Society Four costume designers:
Susannah Buxton (Seasons 1)
Rosalind Ebbutt (Season 2)
Caroline McCall (Seasons 3&4)
Anna Robbins (Seasons 5&6)
18 primary characters - some changing costumes frequently
Caroline McCall Sources of inspiration for costume designers:
Magazines of the time period
Photographs and portraits
Costume books
Existing artifacts
Designers from the period
Queen Alexandra, 1905 Steps in the process:
Characters defined by Julian Fellowes, the creator
Inspiration boards for each character created by designer
Color palettes for each character determined by designer Costumes are coordinated with set
Actors are consulted
Costumes help actors assume roles Budget = $30,000 - $40,000 per episode
Robert’s dinner suit = $4,200 Sources for costumes:
Vintage
Built (made)
Existing costumes from supply shops (e.g. Cosprop) Vintage elements used on some built dresses – e.g. bodice panel Mary nursing Matthew Season 2
Anna at Mary’s wedding Costumes sometimes reused Season 3 44 evening dresses needed for just two episodes in Season 4 (1922-23)
Sears catalog 1925 Downton Abbey in a time of change (1912-1925):
Gender roles
Rules of etiquette
Class system
Technology
Clothing production and distribution Corsets c. 1912 Sybil: “Golly, my corset’s tight. Anna, when you’re done with that, would you be an angel and loosen it a bit?”
Edith: “The start of the slippery slope.” Violet
An Edwardian woman “Alas, I am beyond impropriety” Embellished suits 1912-14 1922-23 1925 Cora 1912-14 1922-23 1925 1912-14 1922-23 1925 Mary Mary in the latest styles 1912-14 1920 1925 1912-14 1920 1925 Edith 1912-14 1922-23 1925 Edith in day dress, 1925 Pictorial Review, 1925 1912-14 1922-23 1925 Sybil:
The new woman! 1913 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X gmoZ026p_E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUdAu5Dn4BM 1924/25
Sears catalog, 1925
Violet and Martha Levinson “Frienemies”
Isobel and Violet 1925
Robert 1912-14 Robert Carson Bates 1912-14 1925
Robert in dinner clothes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKNLqAhA40I Footmen:
Showpieces of the house
Visible indicators of status
Footmen, 1925
Footmen, 1912-14 1912-14, morning 1912-14, evening
Anna 1922-25 Lady’s maid 1912-14 1922 1925
Daisy 1912-14 1925
Mrs. Patmore Mrs. Hughes and Carson 1912-14
Mr. and Mrs. Carson 1925 Downton Abbey – the movie
1927 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bFZrjzM0_Y King George V and Queen Mary
Queen Mary Queen Mary
Queen Mary In movie
Queen Elizabeth Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles Maud Bagshaw
Lady-in-waiting Violet
1927 Two generations Mary
Fortuny Delphos dress Edith
A Marchioness
Cora Benninghofen dress label
Tom Branson Carson Barrow Anna and Bates Moseley
Formal livery Daisy and Mrs. Patmore