Downton Abbey and the Edwardian Era
Hailed as one of the most well-made period dramas of recent times, Downton Abbey has succeeded in tumbling our love of vintage fashion a little farther back along the generational line from where it had been generally focused i.e. from the 1960’s and 1950’s all the way back towards the Victorian / Edwardian era of the early 1900’s. In its rawest form, vintage fashion taken genuinely from this era would be extremely difficult to actually wear – hugely delicate and probably desperately expensive to actually buy – but this doesn’t mean that we can’t take some inspirations from it – which is essentially what the costume department in this drama have done, albeit on a rather serious scale with, it has to be said, brilliant, rather pedantic, accuracy.
See below an original antique dress – an Edwardian Spider Lace Gown from the late 1800’s This dress is for sale on www.antiquedress.com with an asking price of a whopping $2,485
The grace and elegance displayed by all ladies across all social divides during this era, is helped by the full length dresses and the (for the most part) fully covered shoulders and arms that dominated the Victorian period. Full long – or at the very least, ¾ length - sleeves and dress hemlines that skimmed the floor were the order of the day. High detailed necks gave most outfits the regal touch that became synonymous with the Victorian era and it wasn’t until a little further on in the 1900’s such as around 1915 – that necklines became slightly lower. Downton Abbey tends to focus on the latter half of this relatively short period, closer to 1912 – 1915, which means that we, the viewer, are being treated to a glorious combination of both the earlier Victorian dresses - which are being worn by the more mature ladies in the series - and that gradual approach to the 1920’s style of dressing which took place around this time - worn on the show by the younger ladies who at this point are becoming progressively more daring, with arms bared, on occasion, dresses becoming more tailored and structured to the female form and with skirts (though still long) appearing on the scene.
Full on Victorian / Edwardian inspired clothing in this day and age would not only require a large amount of effort, but would also place you as being straight out of a period drama yourself...so what inspirations exactly could one take without going full on Edwardian?
Blouses with the regal high neckline would be one inspiration for instance and garden dresses which skim the floor but are a little less covered over on top would be another nod to the era. English rose style pale skin and ruby red lips, small brimmed straw hats and three quarter length coats would certainly help finish off the look.
Move on a few years and flapper dresses are all the rage – women are rather more empowered and sensual and this is gradually reflected in the style of clothing. This particular era, in my mind, is most definitely easier to pull off – partly because original accessories from the 1920’s are more readily accessible but also because many current, vintage inspired, looks are taken from this era and thus it is easier to imitate.
See this original flapper hat from the 1920’s that I found on www.rubylane.com – it had an asking price of $585
Finally, this is slightly unrelated considering that nether of the below bags are from the Downton Abbey inspired era - in fact, both are from the 1940's but they really are gorgeous vintage items and so I wanted to highlight them - they can both be purchased on devoted2vintage
Moc Snakeskin vintage 1940's bag £54
Moc Croc skin vintage 1940's bag
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