Downton Abbey Fashion Over the Years

The 3rd year of Downton Abbey Mania is nearly to embark. I am fully prepared to devote the adjacent 7 Sundays sitting in front of PBS to bring together the Crawleys, their friends, and relatives and watch this high-end dramatic soap plot unfold (Jan sixth – Feb 17th).  The activity has moved from the Edwardian Era and the carnage of Globe War I and entered the 1920s – the jazz historic period, the flapper historic period, and the commencement generation in which youth held sway in music, the arts, and mode, influencing their elders in the process.

The lawn in front of Downton Abbey is getting crowded! Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Pic & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Scores of young men are now dead and mourned in burying grounds across Europe. The young, aroused at the carnage and destruction and irreplaceable loss of life and limb, turned away from their parents' rules and adopted a looser, more flamboyant lifestyle. Women voted, collection cars, drank, had affairs, attended jazz clubs, and skirted convention.  The youth culture was in full sway, and for the kickoff fourth dimension adults began to ape their youngers.

The Edwardian fashion silhouette included restrictive corsets, long skirts, and trussed upwards bosoms. Credit: Courtesy of © Funfair Film & Television Express 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Adolescence became the new standard of beauty – youthful adolescence, or the "garconne" look. Thin was in, and the idea was to appear modest bosomed, small hipped, and boyish.

The prepubescent girl expect became popular, including flattened breasts and hips, and bobbed hair. Fashions turn to the "little girl await" in "little girl frocks": curled or shingled hair, saucer optics, the turned-upward olfactory organ, bee-stung oral fissure, and de-emphasized eyebrows, which emphasize facial beauty. Shirt dresses have huge Peter Pan collars or floppy bow ties and are worn with talocrural joint-strap shoes with Cuban heels and an occasional buckle. Under wear is stylish in both light colors and blackness, and is decorated with flowers and butterflies. – Women'southward Style 1920

Gabrielle Chanel, Evening Dress in Crepe Georgette with Silverish Lamé Sash. French republic, c. 1923. Image @canalblog.com

Hems rose, bras were condemned, and fabrics swayed and shimmered. Unchaperoned dates became de rigueur. And hair was worn short or bobbed.  Gone were the restrictive corsets of their mothers and grandmothers. Hemlines began to rise so that by 1924, skirts stopped at the knee (displaying the entire lower leg) and waistlines dropped below the hips.  Slits, pleats, and skirt gathers allowed for freedom of motility. Fabrics for evening wear shimmered with metallic thread, beads, and sequins. Dance clothes were fabricated of golden lame or flowy fabrics cut on the bias. Fringes showed movement, and the craze for new dances similar the Charleston and Tango, was in full swing.

How did the women of Downton Abbey fare in this new liberated age? Allow's expect, shall we?

Lady Edith

First, Lady Edith, who we final saw straddling a tractor in pants and learning to drive an automobile, is all the same trying to find a relevant place in the globe. Stuck in the middle of two cute sisters, she has yet to find her unique position.

Lady Edith wears a relaxed, straightlined look popularized by Chanel. The outfit is early 1920'southward, before the hemlines started to rising dramatically. Her cloche hat closely fits her head, and she wears her crimped hair short. As skirts shortened, shoes and hose began to play a more important role in mode. Edith's outfit is a bit clunky. Volition she do meliorate with time? Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Television Express 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Lady Edith'due south dinner wearing apparel exposes her arms and much of her shoulders, but does not emphasize her waist or bust. The rich fabric and color is typical of the 1920s. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

The gorgeous shimmering fabric with panels hangs loosely over Lady Edith's fit frame. Madeleine Vionnet was especially adept with the art of bias-cutting and diagonal seaming. This sleeveless dinner dress is typical of the era. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Moving-picture show & Telly Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Telly Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Shut up one can come across the beautiful shimmering metallic thread details. Lady Edith'southward crimped hair is fashioned to await short. Notation the delicate long necklace. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Flick & Television Express 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Coco Chanel strongly  influenced manner throughout the 20th century. Her dresses for working women and women on the become sported functional features and lacked superficial decorations. Her fashions were clean, sleek, and monotone. In the paradigm below, Edith, who has found a job equally a columnist, visits her editor in a practical yet fashionable gown.

Lady Edith in her "petty boy" work outfit, London. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Tv Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Lady Mary

Dissimilar Lady Edith, Lady Mary has everything, including access to funds. In order to get rich, she has to look the part. It helps enormously that Lady Mary's effigy is sparse, elegant, and pocket-sized-bosomed. Her future bodacious, she spends no fourth dimension worrying well-nigh the toll of her wardrobe and indulges herself royally earlier the wedding ceremony.

The cloche hat, dropped waist, restrained colors, and well placed details of her day gown bespeak a quality that ready-made or homemade garments did not take. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Rich, lush fabric, dramatic sleeves and neckline, and black embroidered detailing. Matthew's suits are also beginning to look more relaxed and modern. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Picture & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

An extraordinarily attractive day adjust. The hat is dramatic (not cloche) and sports a plume. Notation that wearing apparel tend to be colour coordinated. Credit: Courtesy of © Funfair Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

An utterly romantic and refined outfit. Mary is elegant, and certainly not a flapper of the speak-easy kind. Credit: Courtesy of © Funfair Film & Goggle box Express 2012 for MASTERPIECE

With so many immature men killed during WW I, Lady Mary is lucky to be married at all. This romantic wedding gown echoes the romanticism of the era. The tiara is an especially cute and accurate detail. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Television Express 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Simplicity and elegance are the hallmarks of early 1920s manner. 1920 photograph.

Long flowing lines and driblet waist. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Breathtakingly gorgeous gown. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Picture & Tv Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Mr and Mrs Matthew Crawley. Awww. Credit: Courtesy of © Funfair Flick & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Broad collared coat and cloche hat. Long beaded necklaces. How very elegant and modern. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Sat Evening Post, 1922

Lady Rosamund, Isobel Crawley, and Lady Rose

Aunt Rosamund wears a dress with asymmetrical details and loose sleeves that allow for freedom of movement. Her dress echoes that of the younger set and she has most definitely discarded her Edwardian apparel. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Motion picture & Boob tube Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Rosamund's 1920s gown looks downright dowdy adjacent to Lady Rose'southward youthful, modern crewman-collared dress. Her hat has more than nuance and elan than Edith's simple monotone cloche. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Moving-picture show & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Lady Rose is the youthful ideal. Her apparel are shorter and flowier than those of her elders. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Flick & Tv Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Immature and impetuous Lady Rose MacClare wearing a flapper dress. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Moving picture & Tv set Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

" data-medium-file="https://janeaustensworld.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/gabrielle-e2809ccocoe2809d-chanel-french-1883-1971-dress-1925-crystal-beads-on-silk-chiffon-photographs-by-ken-howie.jpg?w=155" data-large-file="https://janeaustensworld.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/gabrielle-e2809ccocoe2809d-chanel-french-1883-1971-dress-1925-crystal-beads-on-silk-chiffon-photographs-by-ken-howie.jpg?w=223" class="size-full wp-image-22130" src="https://janeaustensworld.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/gabrielle-e2809ccocoe2809d-chanel-french-1883-1971-dress-1925-crystal-beads-on-silk-chiffon-photographs-by-ken-howie.jpg?w=500" alt="Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (French, 1883-1971). Dress, 1925, crystal beads on silk chiffon. Collection of Phoenix Art Museum, gifts of Mrs. Wesson Seyburn. Photographs by Ken Howie." srcset="https://janeaustensworld.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/gabrielle-e2809ccocoe2809d-chanel-french-1883-1971-dress-1925-crystal-beads-on-silk-chiffon-photographs-by-ken-howie.jpg 223w, https://janeaustensworld.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/gabrielle-e2809ccocoe2809d-chanel-french-1883-1971-dress-1925-crystal-beads-on-silk-chiffon-photographs-by-ken-howie.jpg?w=77 77w" sizes="(max-width: 223px) 100vw, 223px">

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (French, 1883-1971). Dress, 1925, crystal beads on silk chiffon. Collection of Phoenix Art Museum, gifts of Mrs. Wesson Seyburn. Photographs by Ken Howie.

While the older set, similar Isobel Crawley, wore mode influenced by the young, their outfits were decidedly conservative in comparison. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Motion-picture show & Television receiver Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Thouartha Levinson

Shirley Maclain every bit Martha Levinson, Cora's American mother. Her clothes are expensive and extremely fashionable when compared to Isobel and Violet. Martha tends to overdress according to British standards. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Balenciaga Coat 1927

The contrast between Martha and Violet cannot be more than stated than in this image. Violet wears old-fashioned clothes and a tiara that has probably been handed downward for generations. Martha is a walking advertisement for nouveau wearing apparel. Her headband is extremely fashionable and she wears an outfit dictated past the preferences of the immature. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Telly Express 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Martha's jewels and headbands friction match each outfit. Credit: Courtesy of © Funfair Motion-picture show & Tv set Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Martha's clothes are every bit flamboyant as her personality. Credit: Courtesy of © Funfair Film & Television receiver Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

This is a rather restrained wait for Martha, who sports a short crimped haircut. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Idiot box Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Mary, Martha, and Cora: 3 generations. The clothes are uncomplicated in this scene, and the details are exquisite. While Lady Mary's hair is long, the hairstyle mimics a shorter bob. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Moving picture & Tv Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Cora, Lady Grantham

Cora strikes the right residue between electric current manner and her position equally countess. The earl, who values tradition, wears traditional clothes. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Pic & Tv Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Cora in black. Fashionable, yet restrained and somber. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Picture & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

The Crawley women at Lady Mary's nuptials to Matthew. Note the elaborate hats. Credit: Courtesy of © Funfair Film & Boob tube Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Cora looking regal in a richly colored and detailed gown. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Picture show & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Characters as divers past manner: Violet in Edwardian clothes, Cora in a bourgeois 1920s evening gown, and the very young racy Lady Rose in a flapper sleeveless evening gown. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Moving picture & Telly Express 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Lady Sybil

This interesting image shows the very elegant Mary continuing next to Lady Sybil, whose wardrobe reflects her new status as the wife of a working man. Anna is in uniform. Credit: Courtesy of © Funfair Film & Telly Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

The lines of Lady Sybil'south simple gowns remind me of Madeline Vionnet'due south chiton gown.

Early 1920s fashions were influenced by many cultures – Egypt, Greece, Japan, and Mexico.The monastic way was too stylish. Tom Branson's suits are ill-plumbing equipment in comparing to the earl'due south and Matthew's suits. Credit: Courtesy of © Funfair Film & Television Express 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Lady Sybil'due south pregnancy was easily accommodated in this loosely flowing gown. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Moving picture & Television Express 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Tom and Sybil spruced up for Lady Mary's hymeneals to Matthew. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Motion picture & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Lady Sybil's gown is fabricated of fabric with an exotic material. This was an era that harmonized fine art with manner. Rayon, known as "artificial silk", gained keen popularity with the public. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Flick & Boob tube Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Team Bates

One merely cannot ignore the servants, although a uniform is a compatible. Let's see what else the hoi polloi wears, shall we?

Poor unfortunate Bates. Forced to wear prison garb. Oh, woe is he. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Picture show & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

…

This grey ensemble does poor Bates no justice. When volition he be released? Credit: Courtesy of © Funfair Pic & Idiot box Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Mrs. Bates in a fighting mood for her man. She will motility sky and earth to testify his innocence. Her version of 1920's flapper style is somber indeed. Her clothes are probably homemade and sewn from a pattern. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

With simply modest resource, Anna Bates manages to look primly stylish. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Detective Anna Bates prying information from a reluctant witness. Her coat is bourgeois and long. And is she wearing clogs? Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Flick & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Another woe is me grapheme – Ethel. Poor poor Ethel is trying to make do in life while taking care of her bastard son Charlie. She still manages to afford a cloche hat. Ethel'southward colors of choice are somber, sober, and solemn. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Moving picture & Television set Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

Phyllis Logan as Mrs. Hughes and Lesley Nicol as Mrs. Patmore. Very footling in their wardrobes has inverse. Credit: Courtesy of © Carnival Moving picture & Television receiver Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

For those whose interests in 1920'south fashion has reached new heights, click here to visit my Pinterest board entitled 1925: http://pinterest.com/janeaustenworld/1925/. For more about avant-garde dresses of the 20's, google Coco Chanel, Madeleine Vionnet, Lavin (and his robes de mode), Paul Poiret (who lost his leadership position in style during this era, only who was heavily influenced by Japanism), and Freedom and Co. of Paris and London.

Adjacent calendar week: My review of the first 3 hours of Season Three of Downton Abbey. Please, in your comments do not reveal spoilers. Nosotros in the U.S. take not yet seen the serial. Thank you!

More on the topic.

• 1920s apparel styles
• 1920s fashion
• women'due south fashions 1920
• From Flapper to Bride
• Downton Abbey: Accolade Winning Couture

Images courtesy of © Carnival Film & Television set Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE

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