146 SEPTEMBER 2019
JASON BELLCOURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Lady Edith later returns to the historic abbey, which is preparing for
the arrival of King George V and Queen Mary to their Yorkshire country
house. A host of favourites are also back, including the Earl and Countess
of Grantham, played by Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern, as
well as Dame Maggie Smith as the scene-stealing Dowager Countess.
There’s also a slew of new characters, including Simon Jones and
Geraldine James, who play the king and queen, and the BAFTA-winning
actor Imelda Staunton, ofHarry Potterfame, who plays a brand-new
character within the Crawley family circle. Her real-life spouse, Jim
Carter, makes an unexpected return as Carson the butler.
Michelle Dockery also reprises her role as Lady Mary, who is still
married to Henry Talbot and has taken a more active role in the running
of Downton. “We see Mary in this full managerial role of trying to keep
Downton Abbey going and we see the pressure on her,” says Carmichael.
“She has this responsibility to the house and it’s a role that she’s actually
very good at and it suits her.
I think in that way they’ve both
found a place to be which is good
for them, because living together
and squabbling over boys and
dresses wasn’t very good for
Edith and Mary.” Although the
sisters might have both found
peace, there are still some
quintessentially D o w nton
moments of sibling rivalry to
look forward to. “For, Michelle
and I it was really fun to get
back into that dynamic and see
if they’ve matured a bit.”
Capturing these changes
within the characters took
meticulous costume work by the
show’s costume designer, Anna
Robbins. “On the series I have
nine episodes for each series,
with five or six story days within
each episode,” Robbins explains.
“That’s hundreds of costumes to tell a story. When you move onto the
film, I had far fewer costumes with which to tell the same stories.”
For Robbins, who joined the series in season five, the challenge was in
the way the clothes had to reflect the impending arrival of the 1930s.
“I had to find a balance between moving on in the decades, pushing
towards that slight turning point into the 30s. But I couldn’t take it too far
because I didn’t want to lose the really iconic recognisable characterisation
that I’d established in the series. It was about finding pieces that felt
classically Lady Mary or Lady Edith or Cora [Crawley], but at the same
time, looking at the micro trends from 1927 and making sure it felt fresh.”
In the case of Lady Edith, her wardrobe also had to reflect her
newfound self-assuredness. “She’s found her signature in terms of
style,” says Robbins. “I always like to make sure there’s exquisite
craftsmanship within her wardrobe – so that might be embroidery,
beading, lacework or beautiful prints. There’s a fluidity to her wardrobe
in contrast to a slightly more structured, tailored look for Lady Mary.
I like to look at the dichotomy between the two sisters and work that.
While they’re not always at war, there’s usually a style contrast between
the two of them, because they’re such different women.”
To achieve historical accuracy, Robbins used an even split of original
and custom-designed pieces for the film. She called on her large
network of vintage traders and visited monthly vintage fashion fairs in
London. Some pieces were called in from the US, while fabric was
sourced from France. If she couldn’t find a specific piece, she worked
with a model-maker to recreate it. “On the series I set the bar high, so to
elevate it up to the big screen was a huge challenge, but one that we
really relished. We went to great lengths to make sure it was authentic
and accurate and that the quality was there.”
Robbins was scrupulous with every detail, working with the show’s
historical advisor, Alastair Bruce, to ensure every piece was period-
appropriate. The king’s outfit alone had 52 elements to it and required
its own spreadsheet. “I’ve always prided myself on the authenticity
of the costumes onDownton– so
the attention to detail is there –
and that’s when it’s an abstract,
fictional piece. When you throw
in real-life characters there’s
a huge responsibility to get that
right.” Then there were the tiaras,
worn during a ball in one of the
film’s final scenes. While some
were real tiaras borrowed from
London jeweller Bentley &
Skinner, others were to-scale
replicas using Swarovski crystals
that Robbins commissioned.
“There are absolutely some real
diamonds glittering away in our
dinner and ball scenes. If I’ve
done my job correctly it will be
difficult to spot.”
Robbins also encouraged the
actors to wear period-correct
undergarments and footwear, a
trick she used in the series which
helps actors achieve the correct shape and posture. “The women have
come out of corsetry, but there’s still underwear at play that is used to
augment the female form,” she explains. “I’m not saying that during
a long dining room scene they haven’t taken their shoes off under
the table, but Maggie Smith would wear her shoes with her costume, as
I say, because it completes the costume.
“I don’t think they ever feel particularly relaxed, because they know
that they’re wearing valuable, one-off pieces. I’m sure that somewhere
in the back of their minds they know that they’ve got to be careful when
they’re walking up the drive or sitting at the dining room table that
they don’t put a heel to a hem.”
And even if, like Carmichael, they do just that, it’s part of the whimsy
ofDowntonthat the audience will never know any better. “I think
there’s a comfort with Downton, that the team around it are so
wonderful,” says Carmichael. “They’ve really been crafting what they
think is going to be the best story to tell. I think it’s going to be a treat.”
Downton Abbeyis in cinemas September 12.VOGUE CULTURE
“On the series I set the bar high, so to elevate it up to
the big screen was a huge challenge. We went to great
lengths to make sure it was authentic and accurate”Fromleft: Cora Crawley
(Elizabeth McGovern),
Bertie Pelham
(Hadden Paton),
Lady Edith Crawley
(Carmichael), Robert
Crawley (Hugh
Bonneville) and Andrew
Parker (Michael C. Fox).