Bust-flattening bras, hours of beading and thousands of safety pins: Downton Abbey's costume designer reveals what it REALLY takes to make the show's elaborate outfits
- Anna Robbins is Downton Abbey’s costume designer and wardrobe head
- Around 60% of the costumes are made from scratch, the rest are vintage
- Some original 1920s dresses cost as much as £1,000, then are altered
- Maggie Smith's costumes take the longest to craft
It’s the show that has had us hooked for five years, thanks to dramatic storylines, gripping characters and scathing one-liners from The Dowager.
But since Downton Abbey shimmied its way into the 1920s period last year, the costumes have had us giddier than Lady Rose at a jazz dance.
From opulent, sequinned and beaded party dresses, elegant pussy-bow blouses and perfectly tailored trouser suits, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Elizabeth McGovern and even Maggie Smith have had clothes to lust over.
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Lady Edith Crawley, played by Laura Carmichael, wears a gown sourced by Anna Robbins
Phyllis Logan, who plays Mrs Hughes, is made up for filming at Ealing Studios
'For the "upstairs women", around 60 per cent of their wardrobe is made from scratch and the rest are vintage purchases that we restore,' Anna Robbins, Downton Abbey’s head of wardrobe and costume designer, tells FEMAIL.
'I trawl vintage fairs in London and Paris and visit traders in Scotland – which not many people know about! I’ve built relationships with specialist traders all over the world who send me pictures of their new purchases.'
Days of painstaking detail go into making the old items seem new for the screen.
After purchasing an original 1920s dress - sometimes for as much as £1,000 - to restore it to top condition, Anna would pass it on to her ‘beader,’ who has it for around three days, while a ‘cutter’ and ‘maker’ would make a slip to go on the bottom, taking another two days.
'To make a design completely from scratch, cutting the fabric and embellishing it, could take about four days, while tailoring, say for Mary’s estate suits, take longer still,' says Anna.
Lady Rose, played by Lily James, married in a delicate dress Anna from a north London vintage trader
Lady Rose, who married Atticus, wore the intricate gown which Anna believes was created for 'possibly a war bride' but never worn and wanted to give the dress a happy ending
Lady Edith Crawly and Lady Mary Crawley, played by Michelle Dockery, have more of an androgynous edge
'The Dowager, Maggie Smith’s, dresses take the longest because they are very elaborate and have many layers. The women who plays the servants downstairs are very envious!
'I catch them looking longingly at the "upstairs" wardrobes.'
Anna must act quickly; each piece is unique so if she likes it, she must buy it, even if there’s no immediate use for it.
'In series five I found a wonderful orange and green lame jacket with a huge fur collar that sits up and gives this perfect 1920s silhouette but we never had the chance to use it,' she says.
'But, this series, there’s a very dramatic, beautiful scene with Edith in London where she puts it on to leave and it just fits perfectly. As soon as I read the scene, I knew that’s what I should use at that moment.'
Lady Rose's wedding dress from series five was an original silk tulle wedding dress from the private collection of a vintage trader in Islington.
'We’re sure it was a wedding dress commissioned but never worn, possibly for a war bride,' says Anna. 'It felt like a sad story without an end so it was lovely to be able to give the dress another lease of life.
'The cut, the detailing, the colouring of the beautiful beading and sequins, everything about it was perfect for Rose and it became the focal point for how the rest of the costume came together - the colour of the under-slip, the real roses and gilt ferns in her headdress, her bouquet.
A seamstress, left, creates an outfit in Ealing Studios where cutters also occupy the workshop
Hugh Bonneville, as Robert, Earl of Grantham, wears a regal riding outfit
'Lily and I were so excited when we had our initial fitting with the dress and it fitted perfectly.'
Each costume is specifically designed for that character and the script requirements.
'Lady Mary has clean lines and there’s a slightly androgynous feel,' says Anna, who uses bold, jewel-like colours for the character.
'Mary is embracing the fashions even more now and displaying as many of the new collections as she can,' Michelle tells FEMAIL.
'There are Chanel-type styles and it feels like Anna has really pulled out all the stops, especially for Laura and I. I love the costumes and I’ll really miss them.'
Anna’s team of 12 prep for a month then work continuously throughout shooting.
'Michelle probably has the most fittings because we make the most for her,' says Anna.
'We have big fittings sessions where we spend a couple of hours going through lots of things and have a gossip while listening to the radio and eating sweets. I’ll miss that process a lot.
'The girls love the clothes. Michelle in particular has had her eye on a couple of dresses and little beaded bags.
Maggie Smith, the Dowager, has time-consuming dresses with many layers, pictured with Penelope Wilton, as Isobel Crawley
'Then we do pre-call, before makeup, where they come in very early to try finished garments which we can tweak during makeup. We have a couple of fittings for the men’s suits but don’t see them nearly as often as the women.'
Anna predicts that throughout each series her team go through 'thousands' of safety pins, 'around 20 pairs' of snipping scissors and 'endless streams' of threads.
'Each dress needs a specific thread so our stock now is huge,' she says.
As for underwear, each female character is fitted at the start of the season, tailored to suit her shape and work with the outfits.
The ‘bust-flattening’ undergarments are structural and plain but Anna uses modern techniques so that it’s comfortable.
'Bras of the 1920s didn’t have elastic in them so they were really stiff,' she explains.
Mary is fitted for ‘in-vision’ underwear, meaning hers is the only underwear we catch a glimpse of in her bedroom scenes. 'I use silk, lace and pretty fabrics that are typical of the 1920s,' says Anna.
And as for wardrobe malfunctions?
'They happen the time,' laughs Anna. 'The fabrics are so old and delicate. Elizabeth McGovern was wearing a dress that literally started falling apart during the scene.
'We had to repair it on set in between scenes. That was a stressful day.'
- Downtown Abbey airs at 9pm on Sunday on ITV
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