Saying Goodby To Downton

For the past six years, at 8:00 on Sunday nights from January to March, there would only be one place Michael and I would be. That was on the couch in front of the flat-screen watching Downton Abby.
This year, things got even better. In December, we attended an opening episode screening through our local Public Television affiliate, KCPT which also featured a talk by Alastair Bruce (The Oracle). We dressed nicely, but not in period appropriate and talk about feeling under dressed! At the end of the evening it was announced that there was going to be a wrap up party and viewing at the Hotel Phillips on March 6th. The wheels started turning in my head!

It is interesting that this post comes after a statement in my last, as to the effect I would probably never have a style board or where to buy because I didn’t shop that way. It was a bit different this time around. I had my mink shawl (years ago from Ebay) and my vintage velvet purse given to me years ago by my Mother-In-Law. But everything else was a quest.

The Flapper look didn’t interest me. I wanted to dress like I was invited for dinner at Downton because this event was a dinner and viewing party.

I haven’t worked this hard since the girls went to prom! It was actually double the work because I had to worry about both of us. Michael was happy enough to go along with the ride as long has he didn’t have to do any shopping for it.

I will start with my outfit, ladies first I guess you could say. My dress is a full length beaded affair by Pissaro Nights. It came from Ebay but Nordstrom also carries Pissaro Nights. The color is navy even thought it looks purple on the style board.

The elbow length black gloves came from Amazon. I wanted a cotton looking glove. Some day I think I will try my hand at making mid arm gloves from stretch silk because that looks like the kind of gloves used on the show.

The shoes were found on Amazon. There was a certain heel I was looking for and these dress satin shoes from Ellie were perfect.

The necklace is by Lydell NYC which I picked up at TJ Maxx and was the last addition to the assemble. I ordered the earrings last Fall from a wholesale company LANCY NY with nothing in mind for them. They are a few tones lighter than the dress but with that Deco style, they worked for me on this one.

And finally to my perfume. I probably was the only one there that wanted a decade perfect fragrance. Tabac Blond by Caron has always been one of my favorite scents. Created in 1919 by Earnest Daltroff, Tabac Blond was truly the fragrance for the liberated 20’s woman. A combination of leather, tobacco and vanilla made it nightclub ready!

It and Bellodgia were the two scents that made me want to explore classic perfumes.

That pretty much sums me up. The only thing left would be my head wear and I will go into that at the end.

Now, to Michael. His vintage Brooks Brothers tux was the first thing I found. This was the item that worried me the most so was the first hunted. And of course, I found it on Ebay. The jacket fitted perfectly. The pants were a tad long, but big deal, I just hemmed them.

The shirt is Azar Man and came from Amazon as did the cotton pique vest. It was quite a search to find a shirt that didn’t have pleats in the front.

We decided to skip the plain black tie and actually went with something a little more modern that we found at our favorite KC hat shop, Exclusivity Yours.

I wanted something on my head but wasn’t interested in going with a tiara. After seeing one at the party, I sort of wish I had gone with it. But I wore an original idea I came up with. Looking through my stash, I found some black sequin trim and from it cut two lengths. You can see what I did with it. The shorter length helped anchor it like at hat and it didn’t move all night. It was just enough to add a tad of sparkle but not overpower.

And My Nails

The nails weren’t that important in that I had gloves on during most of the night. But watching Dinker (lady maid to the Dowager Countess of Grantham aka Dame Maggie Smith ) painting her nails a new color called “nude” was great! My two colors for this design were Excalibur (silver) by A England and Dazed by Cult Nails. I ended leaving this on all week because I love the combo.

And in closing, a view of the lobby of Hotel Phillips. It is easy to see why this venue was picked for a Downton Abby party.

So now I will say goodbye and farewell to Downton Abby. But, you know, Julian Fellowes has said if he had his way there will be a movie. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!