Cathy's Art Diary

Delightful online lecture from the Victoria and Albert Museum interviewing Anna Robbins, costume designer for Downton Abbey. Robbins has designed for the last two series of Downton and the three films. One stage with her were some of the pieces from the latest film, which hadn't come out when the talk happened, and she talked us through the design process for them. She was ably interviewed by Emily Harris from the museum who got her to talk though how she gathered her ideas, how the outfits were constructed and how she used vintage pieces. She talked about how the clothes had to be historically accurate but were to be used in a world of imagination and had to reflect the narrative arch of each character. I was fascinated to hear how often one outfit then sets the palette for a whole scene with other pieces reacting to it. I now can't wait to see the film at the weekend! Stop Press: I have seen the film by the time of writing, in fact I’ve seen it twice, and loved it.

Fabulous exhibition at Bonhams of costumes and props from the Downton Abbey series and films which are to be auctioned. Having just watched the series and first two films again I was so excited to see this and it didn’t disappoint. There were two large rooms, one for upstairs and one for down. The clothes and objects were arranged in tableaux. The costumes were fabulous and it was like seeing old friends. From Lady Sibyl’s hareem pants, through the iconic wedding dresses to Lady Edith’s London business dress it was all beautiful. I loved a display of maids off duty clothes hanging up. The attention to detail in the faked documents was wonderful. I’m sure many were never seen close up in the series but they had the words which were read out on them and all the correct headings and stamps. They even had Marigold’s birth certificate which I don’t remember seeing at all.   Closed 16 September 2025 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard