A Day at Downton Abbey: Tailoring

Face it, despite having our heads turned regularly by glamour and beading and the Dowager's tremendous hats, one of the things you can't miss on Downton is the tailoring.  It might not be as showy as an evening dress, but it's harder to lose the fine details, because tailoring is really all about the shape of a garment.

Today's selection from my seemingly inexhaustible Downton photo file gives the tailored section of the exhibit, featuring Mary's lovely linen suit (with Matthew's cricket outfit in the background), and a selection of hunting tweeds.  I wish they had included Mary's suit, shown in the background photo -- I really loved the jacket -- but Rosalind's suit is quite nice as well.

Lord Grantham's up boots and coat are wonderful, and Matthew's outfit, if you can get past the knee pants, is quite good.  I love the belt, the buttoned pockets and all the other details of the jacket.

Apparently I was enamored with Mary's linen suit, judging by the number of photos, but  you have to admit, the details are beautiful.  Covered buttons, the trim around the wrists and on the collar, the way the princess seams are stitched in the back, the buttons on the skirt back, the hat . . . I'd wear it now, and very happily.

I remembered the hunting scene quite well -- Richard and Mary and Matthew, oh my, and I did have a pretty clear memory of the clothes, but again, it was nice to see them in person and catch all the details and structure that I knew were there but that can't show up on a moving target on a small screen.

And as far as the hunting clothes go, anyone who knows me knows as well that I'm a total sucker for tweed.  So they could have had everyone's costumes there and I would have probably taken multiple pictures of each.

Next up: beads and embroidery and excess.  I promise.

Bonus: men's traveling trunk belonging to
a member of the DuPont family, Downton period