We have been captivated by the lives and loves of the aristocratic Crawley family – and their loyal ranks of downstairs staff – over the course of six-hit series of Downton Abbey. Now the glamorous period saga is going under the cinematic magnifying glass with a movie version hitting the big screen on 13 September. And, costume designer Anna Robbins (pictured above) exclusively tells HELLO!, it brought some challenges.
“I felt like my job on the film was to elevate the costumes even higher than they were in the series,” says Anna, whose work features in a new book, Downton Abbey: The Official Film Companion, published to coincide with the movie’s release.
“The costumes are ten times the size on a cinema screen, so the quality of each original piece and the restoration that goes into them has to be more meticulous,” says the designer, who dresses household names including Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville and Dame Maggie Smith for the show.
COSTUMES FIT FOR A KING AND QUEEN
It’s 1927 when we pick up with the inhabitants of the great house, two years after the final TV episode left them. “The King and Queen are coming to Downton,” announces the Earl of Grantham an in a trailer for the film.
“When I read the script, every page I turned just got better and better,” Anna recalls. “And from a costume point of view, it was: ‘This is amazing, this is even more amazing!’ The opportunities and the challenges that I’ve had within the film have been wonderful.”
Welcoming George V and Queen Mary to Downton meant Anna could dress the leading ladies in their most sumptuous gowns and jewels. “We are building to these significant social situations and we are going to find the real finery at these moments,” she says.
This story is from the September 16, 2019 edition of HELLO! Magazine.
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This story is from the September 16, 2019 edition of HELLO! Magazine.
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