Dressing Downton: Modern Mary

We all want a bit of Downton Abbey in our wardrobes so after posting some inspiration for adding some Downton flavor to your wardrobe, I took up the challenge of working my latest Dressing Downton piece into a modern look.

Tada! I made a rather more reproduction type piece but opted to style it modern.

You can find this costume's Dressing Downton post here.

I paired this skirt with a modern white t-shirt.

It has an almost lace like print (I guess you could call it) that is translucent and a black lace pattern printed on the front. I really wanted to capture the romantic feel of the original outfit.

I ended up making this skirt using a self drafted half circle skirt pattern. There's only one seam which I placed in the back. It closes with snaps and hooks and eyes. I made self fabric covered buttons that are purely decorative.

The back doesn't hang quite as nicely as I'd like but I'm sure Mary has on a slip and petticoat under hers.

Oh and this is so fun to wear! I do need more of these long half circle skirts!

I also envision this with a period blouse or styled as a 40s evening look! They too had long swooshy skirts. And the color is just so yummy!

Dressing Downton Modern

Downton Abbey is full to the brim with lovely costume inspiration! I've been focusing on more reproduction type projects but what if you're looking more for everyday type looks? Let's look at some ways you can bring that inspiration into a more modern wardrobe.

Long skirts were very in during this period, though the length came up towards the end of season 2. Love a great skirt from the show? Shorten the hem to more modern length for an instantly wearable look. Keep the interesting details like the buttons on the back of Mary's skirt or the matching belt on Isobel's. For a more flowy skirt, try a half circle skirt. For a slimmer look, go with an a-line.



Sometimes you'll get lucky and find a modern pattern with similar lines.

Vogue 8648 would be a great starting point for Mary's garden party dress! I'd start with the yellow version and add details. Cut the pieces so the stripes line up with Mary's (or somehow interesting), cut the waist pieces in a darker solid for a belt look and add cuffs to the sleeves. Lace trim around the neck for that finishing touch.



Fallen in love with a great jacket? There are a couple of options here. A lot of jackets from the show would look great with jeans! For a more modern look focus in one one detail-pockets, a unique closure, or a great color and apply it to a modern cut jacket.

Vogue 8333 is a great place to start. It has classic lines but the little side detail makes it special. Change the collar, closures or color.

Vouge 8621 is a much more modern pattern but still captures that spirit of specialness all of the Edwardian jackets from this show have. This is a great option to capture a color that's been calling your name.

Don't forget to think outside of the box. Wouldn't Mary's riding jacket make a great coat dress?

McCall's 6279 would fit the bill.

I feel like a lot of the blouses would be very wearable with jeans or a modern skirt.

I've got many more ideas, but this is getting long so I'm thinking of doing a series of posts on this topic. So please post questions, requests and ideas!

Dressing Downton: Edith's and Sybil's How did that get there? Blouse

My latest Dressing Downton project has been to reproduce this lovely blouse worn by Sybil:

And Edith:

   

I used a lovely watercolor print for the main fabric and a lavender fabric for the cuff and collar detail.

I took my styling cue from Edith and paired it with a high waisted black pencil skirt. This was partially because it was a bit short to wear with pants but also because the shape was horribly unflattering when untucked.

Can you say boxy? So not flattering on my body shape. Tucking in is a must!

I drafted this from Colette Pattern's Sorbetto and Butterick 5559 (sleeves). I also drafted the contrast pieces. I saved myself from any facing/hemming by sewing the contrast on right side of contrast to wrong side of fabric and then flipping it to the outside. I pressed the seam allowance on the other edge of the contrast so all I had to do was press the sewn seam and slip stitch the floppy edge down. Easy and pretty.

I suspect this blouse would have been more flattering with underarm gussets so there wouldn't be so much fabric hanging around. I think I'll end up taking in the sides of the blouse near the waist to give a more flattering shape. It won't be as true to the original but that's ok with me.

Dressing Downton: Deconstructing an Outfit

Trying to figure out what's going on in a costume can be pretty tricky. If you're not lucky enough to live someplace that the Downton Abbey costumes are touring, you'll have to rely on other techniques.

You'll want to start by finding lots of pictures. Watching on tv can be helpful but it's nice to have a still image to look at. If you can't find a good picture online, you can take your own screen caps or check out this website.

Things to look for:

• full length shots
• front shots
• back shots
• side views
• detail shots
• shots where the garment is moving
• officially released shots

The piece I'm looking at today is the green skirt. I can tell it's ankle lenght with a belt and has a rather deep, handstitched hem. It's also a very different shape than the skirt Edith is wearing. It's much more aline than pencil.

Movement shots can help you determine a bit more about the fabric used in the garment. This one has lovely movement. This shot also has a nice crisp shot of the belt and buckle. The belt is exactly the right length (no room for post dinner expansion!) and has a square buckle with and oval hole. I don't see a prong. It doesn't look to me like a self-fabric belt but it could be a nice green leather.

This picture is not a good one to use because it's very dark and we can't see much of the skirt.

 

Backs of garments are the most difficult shots to find. This one is has loads of outfit details available. Mary's skirt has 6 buttons on the back. I suspect they are decorative as I don't see any button holes, but they may be there.

Another difficult thing to discern is closures. Cora's skirt in this shot has an obvious closure in the back that looks like a zipper. It may also be a more period snap placket. If the buttons on the back of Mary's skirt are decorative, her skirt must close on the left. I haven't found a nice shot of the left but front and right side shots show no closures. Edwardian closures are often tricky with each layer having the closures somewhere else to prevent one spot from being too bulky. The other option is to just say forget it and put your closure in where ever you want.

Candid shots are great for giving a different view of things. This skirt looks much less full in this shot. (Plus we get to see how they have perfect hair all the time!)

Official release photos are nice because they are crisp and often much larger than screen shots so you can zoom in and see all the details. Look at all of the types of lace on this blouse! I must learn some heirloom sewing techniques!

You can apply these techniques to any period (or vintage) movie/show that you like.

Lady Mary's Closet: Powers of Fascination Dress

This stunning red dress comes from S1.Ep3 when Evelyn and Mr. Pamuk come to stay. I choose the name from a quote that Matthew says to Evelyn when Mary passes these two suitors over for the exotic foreigner. "We should brush up on our powers of fascination."

This dress features a rather simply shaped sleeveless red underdress with a floral embroidered sheer over layer. It looks kind of sparkley in this photo so maybe there are metalic threads or beads on the top layer. It also has the characteristic between empire and natural waist waistline of the period with a wide red sash. The fun red sleeves are made from a darker sheer red fabric.

This full length shot shows that the sheer overlay goes only part way down the dress and has the same pretty scalloped edge on the bottom as on the neckline. It also looks like there may be a small train. And I do believe the sheer layer is a smidge longer in the back than in the front.

Here's a close up of the front and a bit of the back reflected in the mirror. Looks like the sash may have a bow in the back.

Mary styles it with a midsized necklace with dark (red?) stones and elbow length evening gloves.

I really love this dress! If I do ever get around to making an evening gown for Costume College, this one is a possibility.

Dressing Downton: Modern Mourning

 I have been sewing up more Downton Abbey inspired pieces. There have been a few hiccups but I'm still pushing through for these lovely costumes. This month, I replicated a blouse Mary wears in S1.Ep1. to the memorial service for the late heirs.

It features white trim along the top edge and another row right below. And there is a row of cute white buttons. She pairs it with a high waisted tuxedo looking jacket and a black skirt. I also adore Sybil's military inspired jacket and the scalloped collar of Edith's blouse.

For my version, I reached for the ever handy Sorbetto blouse. The drafting was very easy! I added piping to the neckline and across the middle of the shirt. I stole a sleeve pattern from another pattern and slapped them on there.

I was going to try and use the white piping as the neckline facing but all of that white was really distracting so I used black bias binding for a much cleaner look.

I covered buttons with some white bias binding (after lots of pressing!) so they'd match the white of the piping. I hate it when blacks and whites don't match.

Mary's has a straighter neckline and probably had long sleeves but I wanted a simple, wearable piece and I'm super happy with how it turned out.

Lady Edith's Closet: Flower Show Dress

One of my favorite dresses from season 1 is the ecru dress Edith wears to the flower show. Mary and Sybil's flower show dresses make a second appearance at the garden party but Edith's only appears once.

It features some crocheted lace on the neckline and sleeve cuffs. I've spied some at my local Jo-Ann's but there are quite a few people selling lace like this on etsy.

And it has a darling green sash that looks to be at or slightly above the natural waist. (It's kind of hard to tell where the natural waist is when you're wearing a corset! lol)

I love her oval brimmed hat! It's trimmed with white ribbon tied in a loop or bow with a large pale pink flower over it.

The look is accessorized with a pair of crocheted gloves. I could not find a picture of the back of the dress or a full length shot, but this pattern would be just the thing to copy this dress!

Find it on the Sense and Sensibility Pattern's website. I had some trouble with the last Sense and Sensibility pattern I used but I'm hoping a year's worth of sewing experience will make this one a success. I'm planning on having this made up in time for Easter.

Dressing Downton: Costumes I hope make it into season 3!

 Boy, last night's episode of Downton Abbey was easy on the eyes. I feel like we've been seeing the same costumes over and over again, but then they just slammed us with gobs of lovelies all jam packed into the end here. I know there was a war going on (and I read somewhere that some of the costumes were destroyed in a fire) but still some of these pieces deserve more screen time. So here are a few of the pieces I just adored and really want to see again in season 3.

Daisy finally gets a new dress. I much prefer this one to the last one. It's a lovely shade of orange.

I just adore this shade of blue with pale skin.

Edith has another yummy and wearable blouse. And Mrs. Hughes even gets a fancier dress.

Cora's orange blouse was so yummy! The fabric had some kind of lovely print/embroidery on it too.

My all time favorite was Cora's floral wrap dress. *Swoon* I so want one of these. I do feel it could read a bit robe by today's standards (but it's not like people ever wear pjs out of the house.....)

What were your favorites from last night?