The Real Life Downton Abbey (25 page)

Every item in the mistress’s wardrobe, each delicate, exquisite creation, must be beautifully looked after by her lady’s maid. There’s no mad dash round the corner to the dry cleaners or a last-minute chuck into the washing machine; everything is painstakingly hand-washed, with Fuller’s Earth the popular method for removing greasy stains. Total responsibility for the care and repair of all these pricey designer items is all down to the lady’s maid: some of the creations are made from such delicate silks, adorned with heavy jet or cut-steel bead trims which weigh down the fabric, that she must fold each one very carefully before storing it in the enormous wardrobe; hanging might tear the fabric. And her sewing machine in her room downstairs is frequently in use for repairs or alterations to the lady’s wardrobe; it’s one of the most valuable tools of her trade.

A country-house lady’s night attire is ultra feminine: long silk hand-embroidered chemises, pumps (slippers) made of cotton sateen, handmade dressing gowns in silk or fine wool, silk or cotton camisoles, cotton pantaloons (worn as knickers), elegant bed jackets in light quilted silk or silk chiffon. Stockings are very fine silk. Handmade underwear is made from the finest Lyon silks or satins (from the nineteenth century onwards, nuns in European convents make huge amounts of lingerie for society’s wealthiest women).

Her daytime footwear is often narrowly cut soft kid or patent leather-buttoned boots – narrow feet are believed to be a sign of good breeding – so all women’s shoes, whatever the width of their feet, are both narrow and tight. In the evening, she wears court shoes with a small Louis heel. These are usually quite elaborate, embellished with embroidery, lace or jet beading at the toe. (There are no shoes made with synthetic materials at this time, so even the narrowest cut shoes eventually stretch and mould to the wearer’s feet, sometimes stretching beyond the sole.)

It’s likely that the older aristocratic grande dame (think of the Dowager Duchess of Crawley, played by Maggie Smith in
Downton Abbey
) would be unwilling to adapt to the latest innovations in high fashion: she’s not as keen as her granddaughters are to indulge in the newer, more pared down look or the new hobble skirt: she prefers to stick to the gathered shoulders and huge bustles of her era – and she’s less likely to discard her unwanted garments readily by handing them over to the lady’s maid as the younger women do. She finds the wealthiest American women of fashion, in particular, extremely ill bred and vulgar – their rule of never ever wearing the same garment twice in public is, she insists, indicative of their lack of breeding. (They, in turn, are puzzled by the British aristocratic love of the ancient, the worn or the faded christening dress, handed down, generation after generation.) So there is still a measure of restraint in the expenditure on clothes. But not much.

Everyone in Edwardian society wears a hat. Even young girls cannot go out bareheaded. Huge hatboxes accompany the trunkfuls of clothes the society woman takes with her on her travels or for a ‘Saturday to Monday’. Society women’s hats are big. And they’re not just ordinary hats – they are elaborate, highly decorative confections perched atop hair piled high, worn with matching gloves, shoes and stockings, sometimes with accompanying parasols of ruched chiffon or lace, complete with ivory handles.

These supremely elegant hats are often adorned or trimmed with everything you can think of: huge feathers, plumes, lace, braid, rich satin ribbons, even baskets of fake flowers; at times a long chiffon scarf, knotted underneath the chin, is deployed, to keep it all in place. The hatpins society women use to secure their hats are big steel weapons with jet, pearl or enamel ends showing through.

Hats are kept on at lunch. Sometimes, they are even worn with evening dress in restaurants and the theatre. (The famous actress of the times, Sarah Bernhardt, bans hats when she manages to finance her own theatre because the hats obstruct the audience’s view of the stage.) Why are they left on so frequently? Mainly because they involve a great deal of work by the lady’s maid to secure it in the first place. Alternatively, for evening wear, the upswept hairdos may be adorned with ostrich or peacock feathers and, at very grand events, tiaras or jewel-studded combs are on display.

All this adornment is costly, time consuming and extravagant. And until around 1908 wearing it is sheer torture to move around in. The ‘S’ shaped corset, introduced in 1900 as a ‘Health Corset’ and adopted by all fashionable women, is supposed to follow the natural lines of the body, but in fact it forces the bosom out revealingly, nips the waist in tightly and pushes out the bottom.

This corset is hell to wear. Women are accustomed to uncomfortable corsetry, being laced in underneath, but this is extreme: the overall effect makes a woman look like her top half is way ahead of the rest of her. Given the many clothes that go underneath, the chemise, corset cover, drawers, flannel petticoat, cotton lace-trimmed petticoat and, sometimes, a silk petticoat on top of all this, it is a nightmare of restriction – and pain.

The hats too are torture, perched as they are on top of drawn-up hair, supported by pins and combs, which has been puffed out and built up over pads (known as ‘rats’) which are inserted along the front of the head. The elaborate hatpins spear the hat to the hair underneath. (This look works best on dirty hair; clean hair is too soft to hold all the pins.) And sometimes the sharp points of the pins are quite dangerous; there’s a risk of spearing anyone who comes too close. And, of course, the hats are costly – the equivalent of three thousand pounds in today’s money for one hat.

For years, there have been attempts to encourage
less-restrictive
clothing for women. But the real turning point in fashion comes in 1908 when Paris designer Paul Poiret banishes the curvy and distorting ‘S’ shape corset and brings in a more natural, straighter-line corsetry that follows the real shape of a woman’s figure. The new-style corset is lower in the bust (bringing in a need for an early version of a brassiere) and thicker at the waist. It’s still not comfortable by our standards – at first the new corset is too long, making sitting down a problem – but the die has been cast and women are able to stand and sit more naturally.

Gradually, bit by bit, clothes become less restrictive: the frilled Edwardian petticoats go out of fashion. And as women adopt the more comfortable ‘tailor mades’, the loose-waisted jackets and straight, ankle-length skirts that are easier to walk in, often worn with fox furs and big hats, high fashion starts to become more comfortable. The flimsy tea gowns become looser and plunging necklines are more common, despite lectures from the pulpit on the moral dangers of revealing more flesh.

Generally, as public attention is drawn to women’s rights via the suffragettes and their quest for votes for women, women’s clothes are getting more practical. By 1913 hats are flatter – but they’re still big. Handbags too are starting to become more practical, large flat bags become fashionable. And outside the country-house world, this need for more practical clothing is being driven by new working women in the cities, doing jobs that were previously all-male preserves like clerks and secretaries, and wearing tailored dresses with high collars. Fashion reflects society. And the country-house society, with all its refinements and boundaries, is poised, by 1914, to change for ever…

Make-up has been considered too ‘fast’ for society women until now. But encouraged by the acclaimed beauty of the theatre actresses who do wear make-up and, in many ways, overtake the wealthy elite to become the leaders of fashion, some women are starting to go a bit beyond their traditional touch of powder (usually Fuller’s Earth, see panel below) and a dab of lip salve, though lavender or rose water remain favourite scents.

Some more daring women are creating a white skin, by using liquid creams and rice powder (tanned skin is a traditional mark of poverty) or they might even go so far as to emphasise the violet veins around their cleavage with a
blue-coloured
crayon. Eyebrows too may be darkened with the help of the lady’s maid, who deploys a cork singed in a lit candle. And for evenings, the lady’s dancing slippers are concealed in a fashionable little drawstring Dorothy bag, made from velvet or satin and lined in silk.

But what about the country-house man? He too must bow to the dictates of fashion and style. Evening wear, daywear, clothes to shoot in, clothes for leisure, his valet will lay out fresh outfits and help him change his attire at least three times a day. He’s less restricted than his wife: the toff ’s tailored ‘look’ has been long and lean for some time. His hair is cut short by his valet and, if he has a beard, it’s a bit less pointy. Moustaches are sometimes curled. His shoes are mostly boots, sometimes two-tone over-the-ankle boots with the upper half in a lighter colour than the sole, or lace-up boots in dark colours. For business, he wears Oxfords with high arches, a style still seen nowadays. Formal boots usually have white uppers, spats style, and buttons on the side. Or he might go for pumps, a cross between an Oxford and a modern woman’s low-heeled shoe.

Daywear is usually a three-piece suit consisting of a lounge coat (replacing the previous fashion for a frock coat) with a matching waistcoat and sometimes with contrasting trousers. If he chooses, the jacket and trousers match and a contrasting single-breasted waistcoat is worn.

If he’s bang up-to-the minute, his trousers are a bit shorter than they were before, sometimes with turn-ups. And they are sharply creased front and back. If he wants formal wear in the daytime, his valet will usually lay out a cutaway morning coat to be worn with striped trousers. And his shirt collars are very tall and stiffened.

For shooting parties, he’s still shod in sturdy boots or shoes with leather gaiters, worn with the traditional country gentleman’s attire, the sturdy tweed Norfolk jacket, with box pleats over the chest and at the back, complete with matching breeches, knee-length stockings and a flat cap. If he’s golfing or cycling, the valet might lay out this kind of Norfolk tweed outfit, too. For sailing trips, his trunk will carry a number of navy-blue blazers or striped flannel coats cut like a sack coat with patch pockets and brass buttons. If he’s really feeling informal, he might wear a striped shirt. Or a panama hat.

For dinner, at home or at his men’s club, he sports a tuxedo with a shawl collar with silk or satin facings. And for really formal events, a dark tailcoat and trousers with a light or dark waistcoat is usually his chosen attire. Worn with a white
bowtie
and a stiff-fronted shirt with a winged collar, or a very thin bow-tie, plus a fresh flower on his lapel, a carnation or a gardenia brought to him from the estate gardens on a silver tray.

Both men and women always wear gloves, the men’s gloves usually in white, grey or tan, sometimes matching the tie or neckwear. And in winter, the entire outfit is usually topped off by a calf-length woollen overcoat. And, of course, for all formal occasions he wears a top hat, another toff status symbol he has yet to relinquish. He may not ‘give a fig’ for fashion itself. But he’s acutely aware that his appearance, and his adherence to the dress codes of his class must send out all the ‘right’ messages to the world. So when he notices, while relaxing with a cigar in his club, that one or two of his cronies are using a very
pleasant-smelling
perfumed cologne, he recalls his valet mentioning to him that Mr Penhaligon’s Hammam Bouquet is all the rage now, sir. And quite soon, he’s wearing it himself.

By complete contrast, life spent working in a grand country house means wearing uniform for most of the time. This ranges from the elegant, formal attire of the male uppers like the butler, valet or footmen, to the dark, drab uniform dresses with aprons worn by most of the female servants.

A work uniform, by tradition, is not provided for female servants, who must buy or make it themselves. Male servants wearing livery, such as footmen, have traditionally had their clothing provided for them. So the young girl entering live-in service, nervously arriving at the grand house for her first day with her clothing in a black tin trunk, may have already been obliged to borrow money to buy or make her required uniform. Sometimes she might have already been working in order to save up to go into service, perhaps by looking after children in the daytime to earn enough to find the cash for her work clothing.

Looking clean, neat and tidy yet inconspicuous is an important aspect of the rules around live-in service. So dress restrictions are usually discussed at the job interview with the housekeeper. A new housemaid will be told exactly what she needs: usually it’s four dresses, two printed working cotton ‘washing frocks’ in dark grey or navy (these are worn with pinafores and get filthy during the morning cleaning or kitchen sessions), accompanied by a black dress, plus white cap and apron for afternoon attire. (Wearing a waist apron, rather than the lowly pinafore, denotes a slightly higher status.) The second black dress is also worn outdoors and for Sunday church. In some households, specific colour coding is worn by servants, i.e. white and grey only for nursery maids.

Headgear is a very important part of overall appearance. The rules are such that a cap must be worn at all times. In some big houses, it’s not unknown for a maid caught without her cap to be sacked by the mistress, a somewhat ancient tradition which lingers on – at one stage no respectable woman could be seen outside the bedroom without covering her hair in some way. Female servants must also wear a hat or bonnet at all times when outdoors, usually a black bonnet in a hood-like shape for Sunday church visits. Expenditure for other items like boots, black stockings and underwear is also down to the employee. (Lisle stockings – lisle is a cotton fabric with a smooth finish – cost 4 pence a pair and are frequently darned time and again.)