Downton Abbey Costume Exhibit

You guys – did you know there’s a Downton Abbey costume exhibit going on right now in the United States??  I was lucky enough to go a few weeks ago to Winterthur Estate in Wilminton, DE to oggle at the actual costumes from the TV series.  If you have a chance to go, the costumes are on exhibit through the beginning of next year.

Winterthur was a 60 acre working estate (and now a fabulous museum) back in the early 1900’s and was founded by Henry Francis du Pont (yes, those du Ponts).  This exhibit took an interesting angle of comparing and contrasting life in America versus Great Britain during the time period of Downton Abbey and examining the details of daily life, such as how the house help was treated and what a typical day on the estate looked like.

This is a very picture-heavy post, of course – I wanted to include as many of the costumes as I could!  40 costumes from the show were on display, and it was fascinating to see how they looked in real life compared to how they showed up on TV.  The designers has seven weeks, from script to screen, to make the costumes for the cast – what a feat of sewing!  I’m not sure how many people work on the costumes for the show, but with that kind of time crunch and a huge cast to outfit, they must have an army.

The beginning of the exhibit focuses on the house staff and their wardrobe.  Here’s Anna’s uniform she’d wear during the afternoon at Downton Abbey – the lace makes it look so fancy, right?

A day dress Mary wore in season two.

This outfit was worn by Cora, twice: the first time to Mary’s wedding, the second time for the christening of Sybil’s baby.  Lavender, mauve, and lilac were popular colors of the time, and the 1890’s were actually called “The Mauve Decade.”  What I love about this dress are the details – the trapunto stitching on the sleeves, the buttons on the back, and the brocade pattern of the fabric.  

The above two outfits are “summer whites” that were worn during warm weather and outdoor activities in the summertime.  The walking suit, worn by Lady Mary, was designed with a kick pleat in the back to make walking easier – a very common exercise for women at the time.  Matthew’s outfit of a cabled sweater, sports shirt, and flannel pants were a requirement for playing sports like cricket, tennis, and croquet.  Can you imagine wearing such layers in that kind of weather?

Here’s another one of Matthew’s outfits.  Pinstripes were very popular, worn primarily by bankers and then becoming commonplace in fashion.  Certain patterns and colors of pinstripes denoted which bank you worked for.

Guess what this jacket is made from – a tablecloth!!  A beautiful tablecloth, nonetheless!  This was worn by Cora in season three.  Heck, if I could find something like this, I would totally make myself a jacket from a tablecloth.

Isn’t this coat, worn by Shirley MacLaine’s character Martha Levinson in season three, just fabulous?  It’s one of three pieces in the exhibit that’s vintage – yup, this is an original coat dating back to the 1920’s.  What’s so fascinating about this coat is that the fur is actually faux!  It looks a lot better than some of the imitation furs we have now.

Ahh tweeds, the standard country living attire.  These were from season two, when Sir Richard Carlisle comes to Downton and the family goes for a hunt – shooting, to be specific.  If they were going foxhunting, scarlet coats would be the proper attire.  I wish I had taken a picture of Lord Grantham’s shooting outfit to contrast the “new money” look of Carlisle’s outift – someone in Lord Grantham’s position would have had his valet wear his new suit for about two weeks to “break it in”.  It’s evident from Carlisle’s ensemble that he had it just made for this event, everything looks brand new.

Edith’s wedding gown was just absolutely gorgeous to see in person.  The dress started out with an original train salvaged from a vintage wedding dress.  I love the layered look of the sleeves.  The costume designer’s intent was to have Edith look as youthful and beautiful as possible when Sir Anthony sees her at the wedding, and realize that she’s far too young to marry him.  Poor Edith, she just can’t catch a break..

The dresses her sisters wore to the wedding

Mary’s dress

Sybil’s dress actually started out as a vintage blouse – can you spy the difference in the embroidery from the top vs the skirt?  It’s very subtle, but ingenious how it’s replicated in the new skirt.

Sybil’s harem outfit is the most popular costume from the series, and constructed from vintage fabric.  The fabric actually split during filming and had to be mended with more fabric – this wasn’t evident at all on TV!  Harem pants were quite shocking at the time, first introduced by couturier Paul Poiret at a costume party in 1911.  Sybil wore these in season one, which took place between the years 1912-1914.

The beading is stunning on Mary’s dress, and I love the tulle detail in the back.  Truly drool-worthy.

The pearl beaded panel is an original vintage piece that ran down the front of a dress that was beyond repair.  The costume designers based their dress design for Cora around this pearl piece, and dyed the new silk to match.

Another one of Cora’s stunning, beaded evening dresses – I think her costumes are my favorite!

Any Downton fan will instantlly recognize these costumes as the ones Mary and Matthew wore at the end of season two where Matthew proposed outside in the snow.  I didn’t capture it here, but the scalloped edges of Mary’s dress are – get this – finished by a serger!  You’d never see a detail like this on TV.  I thought it was a nice touch to have this scene, with the snow, playing in the background.

Rose’s dress from season three is an actual vintage dress from the 1920’s.  True party-girl, flapper style.

And of course, I had to include one of Maggie Smith’s excellent costumes.  The detailing is just exquisite.

Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, 5105 Kennett Pike, Wilmington, Delaware. Exhibit runs from March 1 to January 4, 2015. 


What’s your favorite costume from the series so far?  I can’t choose just one!