I was late fan of Downton Abbey and began watching a couple of seasons after it started but was immediately taken by the costumes both the upstairs and downstairs variety.   I already loved the 1920's era fashions, the simple lines and early Coco Chanel creations, and the flapper look so I began to read up on anything I could find about the costume creation for the show. One of the costume designers mentioned in an interview that she found inspiration in the publications of the era such as the Girls Own Annual pictured above and having got hold of one on eBay I love to browse the pages for the illustrations and stories and craft ideas such as Christmas gifts to make and ideas for easy dresses dresses to make - such as the "one piece dress" pictured below.

If you like edwardian kitchenalia you will spot some rare and wonderful vintage kitchen contraptions on the show - here are some examples of kitchen stalwarths from a bygone era.  On the left is a stoneware activated charcoal water filer, next is a bread crock for storing bread,  then a rotary knife cleaner and perhaps more common is the glass hand-operated butter churn.

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