Downton on the High Street: How Lord Grantham's girls have brought Edwardian elegance back to the shops

By Jan Moir

Last updated at 11:21 AM on 15th October 2011

What manner of madness is this? Downton Abbey fashions, reinvented by (whisper it, ladies) the High Street?

Oh shiver me lawks and put an extra pennyworth o’ bobbin on the liberty corset, or whatever it is the mistress of the wardrobe doth do with her ladyship’s flannelette unspeakables and afternoon tea gowns.

Downton Abbey fashions for all? You mean that even shopgirls and the second maid of the coalscuttle can now afford to wear the kind of elegant velvets and fur shrugs that were once enjoyed only by the proper ladies of the aristocracy?

Blouse, £49, viyella. Palazzo pants, £15, dorothyperkins.com. Feather hair clip, £18, accessorize.com. Gloves, £69, aspinaloflondon.com

Cream chiffon dress, £150, houseof fraser.co.uk. Nude shoes, £59.99, zara. com. Bronze clutch, £45, dune.co.uk. Embellished hairband, £7.99, and earrings, £3.99, newlook.com

Well I never. This is the kind of thing that would give Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, as played by Dame Maggie Smith, a fit of the oyster-eyed vapours. Yet this is exactly what is happening.

Today, millions of women don’t just love watching Downton Abbey, the blockbuster ITV costume drama created by Julian Fellowes. They want to shop the look, too.

This season, sales of Downton period-perfect accessories such as silk gloves, empire-line velvet dresses and demure strings of pearls have surged.

The popularity of the drama series and the beauty of the costumes worn by the female cast has manifested itself in a demand for the discreet charms of the Edwardian-style fashions of the day.

No, not the mob caps and frilled pinnies of the downstairs crew. No one wants to head out on a Saturday night looking like Mrs Patmore the cook — unless you happen to be Christopher Biggins or perhaps even a slumming-it Russell Grant.

Burgundy dress, £150, coast-stores.com. Pearl necklace, £12.50, topshop.com. Pearl bracelet, £4, accessorize.com. Faux fur shrug, £68, corneliajames.com

Embellished dress, £325, jigsaw.co.uk. Lace gloves, £35, corneliajames.com

We’re drawing a line, too, through Violet’s gigantic lambskin hats, the approximate size and shape of a dishwasher. If you wore one of those walking down the street, children would just assume you were SpongeBob Squarepants’s mum. Simply not on.

Instead, the real fashion attraction for fans is the outfits worn by the blushing young ladies of Downton Abbey.

Swathed in jet beading and privilege, Lady Mary, Lady Sybil and Lady Edith — not to mention their unfeasibly youthful mother, Cora, Countess of Grantham — breakfast each day in silks and dine in satins.

They have to change about six times a day — lunch, hunting, tea, town, vicar-visiting, trembling like a mouse with unrequited Matthew-lust, furiously brushing hair in mirror before going to bed.

Whatever the occasion, theirs is a timeless elegance, one that speaks of an age when overtly sexy was unacceptable and anything emotive was unspoken and unseen.

Pleated skirt, £115, coast-stores.com. Betty Jackson 2 lace blouse, £110, johnlewis.com. Clutch, £49, dune.co.uk. Shoes, £65, aldoshoes.com

Let’s put it this way. The word JUICY on the back of your tracky-bums would definitely be frowned upon. At Downton Abbey, it is the whisper of a lace ruffle or the tiniest glimpse of ankle that provides the erotic charge.

As you can see, the charms of this decorous style have been reinterpreted today by designers using the same graceful long lines and rich yet muted colours. Here, there is lots of deep burgundy, such as in the dress by Coast and the coat by Wallis, offset by the gleam of pearls or a neat little cloche hat.

There are also ankle-skimming pleats, the repression of deep cuffs, prim button-backed blouses and a hint of skin behind layers of pale chiffon. Hairbands are modest, handbags are tiny. Remember, the ladies of Downton Abbey had no independence and nothing important to carry around. Excluding the soft toy that Lady Mary gave to Matthew to keep him safe in the Somme, of course!

Burgundy velvet dress with embellished belt, £325, austique. co.uk. Earrings, £3.99, newlook.com. Shrug, £89.90, massimo dutti.com

Coat, £90, wallis.co.uk. Faux fur stole, £45, lkbennett. com. Cloche hat, £50, johnlewis.com. Tights, £6, debenhams.com. Boots, £69.99, zara.com

The Great War changed everything at Downton Abbey, although this has yet to dawn on the inhabitants. Violet, for example, is an arch snob, desperate to ensure that the Crawley family keep their grappling hooks sunk deep into the summit of the social order and remain kingpins of the ruling classes.

She cannot see the change that is coming. That one day, women of all classes will indeed wear palazzo pants. Or the fact that John Lewis and Betty Jackson — no, milady, they are not the Abbey’s newly appointed footman and mistress of the bedchamber — will one day be producing the kind of sumptuous clothes that were once the sole prerogative of the aristocracy.

Jessica Fellowes, the niece of Julian, has written an excellent book to accompany the series. In The World Of Downton Abbey, she reveals that a few of the ladies’ costumes are vintage, some are hired, but most are made to order by the show’s wardrobe department. The modern fabrics used have to be ‘dipped down’ — dyed — to capture the muted tones of the day.

Velvet dress, £245, toast.co.uk. Pearl necklaces, £8 each, and embellished clutch, £32, accessorize.com. T-Bar shoes, £80, dune.co.uk

She also reveals that under their costumes, all the actresses wear plain, nude-coloured cling-resistant slips from M&S. Indeed, they love them so much they have become addicted to wearing them off-screen, too.

It is this mix of the old and the new that is perhaps so potent. I particularly love the long pleated skirt and wafty blouse combo. Just the thing to wear when bossing around the curiously scrumptious Bates.

Fetch me some tea! Iron that newspaper. Starch the master’s collar after you’ve steamed the hearth. And then come here and sit on my lap.

You see? You don’t need much of a Downton costume to get into Downton character.

The Downton ladies have to change about six times a day - lunch, hunting, tea, town, vicar-visiting, trembling like a mouse with unrequited Matthew-lust, furiously brushing hair in mirror before going to bed