A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey: Seasonal Celebrations, Traditions, and Recipes (22 page)

SPOTLIGHT ON

As well as being responsible for the many lavish and intricate dresses that the ladies wear, Anna is, of course, in charge of every other single stitch seen on screen, whether that’s dressing a male cast member or someone in a crowd scene.

During series five, there is a scene in the village with fifty schoolchildren, which means having to do a lot of research just for that one short scene. Anna’s resources include books – there’s a particularly brilliant reference book,
1920s Fashion Design
by Pepin Press – but also the expertise sitting within the hire houses, such as Cosprop, with whom
Downton Abbey
has worked closely since the first series. Creating those crowd costumes often means making their own, so Anna has used a Savile Row-trained tailor and has a pool of other people she can call upon. ‘It’s a busy time for makers now, as there are a lot of film and television productions going on – if you’re a good cutter and maker, you’ll find yourself massively in demand. There are a lot working under full-time contracts too, which can create difficulties when I need things turned around within days.’

Every detail is checked for authenticity, as with this sergeant’s stripes.

Alastair Bruce will sometimes advise a tweak to a costume. For example, a policeman will need a row of ribboned medals on his uniform – it’s the kind of detail that research doesn’t always throw up, but needs the specialist’s eye. It’s in touches like these that the show demonstrates its commitment to authenticity and telling small stories about how life was, almost subconsciously.

The men’s wardrobes are smaller than the women’s, but bring challenges of their own. ‘We’re trying to ring in the changes where we can,’ says Anna. ‘For example, Tony Gillingham is having a London suit made for this series – we’ve only really seen him in tweeds before, but now we’re beginning to see him in a new light. Those suits bring with them a whole world of etiquette. We don’t do so much for Robert, but at the same time, we can’t leave him stuck in the past, we want to move him forward. So we’ll just nudge it ahead a little bit, looking at the angle of the breast pocket, for example.’

Certain details might even cause Anna a restless night: ‘I’ve got a specific obsession with ties. In a three-piece suit, there’s a restriction on how much of a story we can tell with it, so the tie is what we can use to anchor that character. I’m always on the lookout for fabric that we can use to make ties. We use authentic 1920s ties where we can, but most of them are very worn out by now. And what’s funny is that men and women definitely choose different ties. If my wardrobe supervisor chooses a tie, you can bet that I’ll prefer another!’

And while Anna has four washing machines constantly whirring away in her principal truck (there’s also a ‘crowd truck'), many of the men’s clothes – particularly shirts and collars – have to be sent away to specialist cleaners, taking time that has to be scheduled in.

Below stairs, the changes in wardrobe move rather more slowly than above, being less influenced by fashion and more restricted by economies. Maids would traditionally have been given the cloth by the family – often as a Christmas present – in order to make their uniforms, whether themselves or by seamstresses. For the fifth series, all of the maids have had their day and evening dresses (not party dresses, but a uniform they would wear after their morning’s work, when the dirtier chores of the day had been done) remade – the waists have been dropped and the hems raised a little. In the kitchen, the maids wear mobcaps and these have been shunted slightly forward – in the 1920s they would have worn them sitting almost on the forehead, but this was deemed to look a little too like pastiche and so, at Downton Abbey, they sit rather more at an angle instead. Mrs Patmore’s uniform has changed slightly, an adjustment to the palette; Daisy’s uniform is unique to her, as the only kitchen assistant. Despite the work they did, the maids would always be expected to look clean and presentable.

A lady’s maid would sometimes be given old dresses by her mistress, and this is occasionally reflected in the show, but they are careful that this is done reasonably subtly, so that Anna, say, is not seen wearing something that is better suited to Mary’s personality than hers. A lady’s maid did not strictly wear uniforms, but had to dress simply, and certainly in a way that meant they couldn’t be mistaken for their mistresses. Baxter has been given rather more complicated details in her dresses, because she is an extremely competent seamstress and would have enjoyed sewing those flourishes on to her own clothes. Mrs Hughes, for this series, has been given a new, rather stylish but still formidable, dark cashmere skirt and jacket, with a second suit made for the warmer summer episodes.

Carson’s uniform has not changed one iota since the first series – nor would it have for any butler working from the late Victorian years into the 1920s: a morning coat for the day, white tie for evening. The footmen would be decked out in livery, often made at Savile Row – they were deemed to be the showpieces for the house and it was important that they looked smart, with details such as the family’s crest on their buttons. Many houses would keep several footmen’s liveries, in case they brought in extra men to serve at larger dinners or to line a staircase at a London party – if you find forty liveries in a stately home’s cupboard, it doesn’t, therefore, mean that they once had forty footmen working there. As with the lady’s maids, valets often wore cast-offs from their master; indeed, for many, it was a perk of the job.

Tim Drewe as chief estate fireman.

With Anna’s designs for the show authentic and yet appealing to the modern eye, it’s not surprising the actors covet their own costumes in a twenty-first-century twist on the perk. As Anna says, ‘Our bespoke shoes are turning heads. Lady Rose’s blue Mary Janes with twisted pipe straps and Edith’s heeled brogues are so on-trend. And there are always some beautiful original beaded gowns that look so stunning, the girls can see themselves on the red carpet in them …’ We’ll be watching.

Daisy in a mobcap.

Summer

THE EARL OF GRANTHAM
(Robert)

The thwack of a cricket ball on a willow bat, the taste of strawberries and cream, the smell of freshly cut grass and the first sight of the sea: these are all happy reminders of an English summer.