VINTAGE - Delaware Online

W I N T E R T H U R ’ S
“ D O W N T O N
A B B E Y ”
E X H I B I T
VINTAGE
THE DETAILS
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ELEGANCE
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A new exhibit at Winterthur goes
behind the scenes to show how
period clothing is recreated
for the popular TV series
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By Patricia Talorico
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The News Journal
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IF YOU GO
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About the costumes
A Evening dress worn by the Dowager Countess of Grantham (played by Maggie
Smith) in Season 1 (1912-14) – the design of this dress and the silk of the skirt is behind
the fashions of the day, indicating that the character was conservative in her taste.
B Dress worn by Lady Sybil Branson (played by Jessica Brown Findlay) in Season 3 to
1. Evening dress worn by Isobel Crawley
(played by Penelope Wilton)
2. Business suit worn by Matthew Crawley
(played by Dan Stevens) – pinstripes relatively new and very fashionable
3. Day dress worn by Lady Mary Crawley
(played by Michelle Dockery).
4. Harem pants worn by Lady Sybil Branson
(played by Jessica Brown Findlay) – very
avant garde and shocking.
5. Footman’s livery worn by Thomas Barrow
(played by Robert James-Collier)
6. Evening dress worn by Lady Rose
MacClare (played by Lily James)
7. Coat, dress worn by Cora, countess of
Grantham (played by Elizabeth McGovern)
8. Hat worn by Martha Levinson (played by
Shirley MacLaine)
9. Apron and working clothes worn by John
Bates (played by Brendan Coyle)
orward thinkers in fashion tend to look backward, and vintage clothing has
become all the rage. Still, only a handful of the 40 outfits on display for
Winterthur Museum’s “Costumes of Downton Abbey” exhibit through Jan. 4
are true vintage apparel. Look closely and you might see what is original
from the time period – from 1912 to the early 1920s – and what has been
made-for-TV.
Many of the women’s “historically inspired” costumes made for the British PBS
drama focusing on the aristocratic household of the fictional earl and countess of
Grantham have been built around fragments of vintage fabrics.
So why don’t designers simply use original clothes for the TV show?
“A lot of the real things have fallen apart,” says Linda S. Eaton, Winterthur’s director of museum collections and senior curator of textiles. “They are not going to use
period things because of the fragility.”
The “Downton Abbey” era was a century ago. Clothes for well-dressed, wealthy
women were often made with delicate, sheer fabrics. “Not as much has survived in
good condition,” Eaton says.
Instead, designers take antique pieces of fabric, as well as beaded cloths and parts
of dresses, and incorporate them into new designs.
Winterthur visitors will see Lady Edith’s wedding dress has some period embroidery panels. But, up close, Eaton says they’ll also see where present-day embroidery
was added.
The same goes with a harem outfit worn by Lady
Sybil. The fragile top is vintage, but the pants are made
• WHAT: “Costumes of
made with new fabrics.
‘Downton Abbey’”
A dress worn by Cora, the countess of Grantham, is
an example of vintage “bits and adaptations” combined • WHERE: Winterthur
Museum, Library and
with new design. Eaton says the dress has a vintage
Gardens, 5105 Kennett
panel down the front. “It’s very believable,” she says.
Pike, near Greenville
And one of Cora’s coats also has beautiful embroidery period. But upon closer examination, museum visi- • WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
tors can see the designers have used a vintage tableTuesdays through Sundays,
cloth.
through Jan. 4, 2015
“It’s brilliant. It’s the right period. It’s very clever,”
• TICKETS: Tickets are
Eaton says, for a designer to have the imagination and
timed and must be bought
understanding to use other antique fabrics. On TV, the in advance. $20/adults;
camera fools the eye and the clothing looks period ap$18/students and seniors;
propriate, with no modern-day additions, because peo$5/ages 2-11.
ple are moving.
• INFO: (302) 888-4600;
Not all the clothes are made exactly as they were a
century ago. Costume designers and seamstresses only www.winterthur.org
have seven weeks to create character wardrobes.
The costumes come from Cosprop, a company that rents to theater, film and television productions. It was founded by John Bright, who was at the forefront of historical accuracy. Designers are “very careful” to not rip apart intact antique and vintage
clothes to make the elaborate costumes.
“They are not going to destroy an important period piece,” Eaton says. “They’re
not killing history.”
One of the vintage dresses in the exhibit is a flirty salmon pink velvet gown, from
Season 4, worn by Lady Rose. The print of pinks and blacks actually looks like a pattern from the 1960s.
“The design is very modern. You look at it and don’t think the 1920s,” Eaton says.
“It is so interesting, these designs go around and come around again.”
Most of the woman’s coats on display are original pieces. Eaton points to a printed
velvet vintage coat with a white fur collar, worn by actress Shirley MacLaine. It was
made by Fortuny, an Italian designer who was inspired by Renaissance design.
While the men’s clothing is all highly tailored, few pieces have vintage elements.
But, the choice of fabrics is highly nuanced between the upstairs and downstairs
“Downton Abbey” residents and even the British classes.
A suit on display worn by Sir Richard, a suitor of Lady Mary’s, is well-made but
has “the wrong kind of tweeds,” Eaton says – on purpose. It shows that his new money
doesn’t fit in with old-school British aristocracy. “It’s a very subtle thing, but it has
tremendous meaning.”
Some clothes have been enhanced to look better on TV.
For instance, some of the costumes worn by “Downton Abbey’s” downstairs staff
have much more texture and design than what someone in the same position would
have actually worn 100 years ago. Housekeeper Mrs. Hughes seems to be a dowdydressed woman, but one of her black dresses in the exhibit is actually heavily beaded.
The texture is needed for TV, Eaton says, or “it would look like black holes of nothing.”
attend Lady Edith’s wedding. The top of the dress is vintage, and the lower skirt was
made to match to create a full dress. It is sheer cotton and is worn with an underdress.
C Coat and suit worn by Sir Richard Carlisle (played by Iain Glen) in Season 2 (1916-19).
His tweeds are too new, strengthening the idea of his character as being newly rich and
not from old money like the Grantham family.
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Evening dress worn by Lady Mary Crawley (played by Michelle Dockery) in Season 2
(1916-19). This is a highly fashionable dress for that period, showing that Lady Mary
could afford the best up-to-date fashions.
E Dress and coat worn by Cora, countess of Grantham (played by Elizabeth McGovern)
in Season 1 (1912-14) – this dress was not based on a period source but made up from a
vintage strip of pearls and jet that was found on a vintage dress in poor condition.
F Dress worn by Lady Mary Crawley (played by Michelle Dockery) in Season 3 (1920-21)
to attend Lady Edith’s wedding. The body of the dress was a cream vintage dress of a
slightly later date that was dyed blue – the sleeves and sash were added.
American aristocrats not
so clothes conscious as
their English counterparts
enry Francis du Pont was known as “a
very, very dapper dresser.”
But his wife, Ruth Wales du Pont?
Not so much.
“She was not a fashion plate,” says Linda S.
Eaton, Winterthur Museum’s director of collections and senior curator of textiles.
There are parallels between the history of
the du Pont country estate and the fictional
British estate, “Downton Abbey.” The du Ponts
married in 1916 and lived at Winterthur around
the same time period the PBS series is set.
The couple were well-traveled, and a steam
trunk that would have been used to ferry more
than a dozen changes of clothes needed for a
weekend party is part of the “Costumes of
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Downton Abbey” exhibit. So, too, is Ruth's 17-pound crocodile leather makeup case.
Yet, for all the magnificence of Winterthur with its
nearly 90,000 objects, nothing from Ruth’s wardrobe is
on display. The museum doesn’t own any of her outfits.
“We don’t know what happened to her clothes,” Eaton
says, adding, “when she was younger, she had lovely,
lovely clothes.”
Henry, who always wore high-quality clothing,
ordered his bespoke suits from the best tailors in London,
Eaton says. A dark midnight blue tuxedo he wore in the
1960s, made by Savile Row’s Henry Poole & Co., is part
of the exhibit. “It was ever so chic at the time,” Eaton
says.
However, Ruth, who was raised in New York, was not
particularly interested in clothes.
While she could have afforded the best Parisian couture, Eaton says, “she was not buying from Parisian couture houses.” Most of her clothes, particularly those
worn later in life, were made locally or came from
Philadelphia.
– Patricia Talorico
Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com.
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Henry Francis du Pont and his wife Ruth Wales du Pont
in a 1916 photo. COURTESY OF WINTERTHUR MUSEUM
• COMING NEXT WEEK: SHAKESPEARE TURNS 450 YEARS OLD