Movie sets that have inflamed the imagination with fairy-tale encounters taking place during the great eras in which luxury ruled are plentiful. But most of…
View More Seasons at HighclereTag: Great Britain
The history of Great Britain is so rich with cultural superiority and equanimity that I find my fascination for the country and its historical personalities knows no bounds.
The addiction for Downton Abbey that swept the world was a remarkable thing to watch. I will be one of the first to raise my hand when the obsessed are asked to reveal themselves! And though I adored the more formal gestalt at the beginning of the television series, I was enthralled to watch as the fashions and the manners grew more modern as the show neared its conclusion.
One of my posts, I Met Virginia Woolf in This Room, highlights these changing times as Lady Edith Crawley, played by Laura Carmichael, sets out for London and a life as a journalist dressed in felicitous flapper-era fashion. Julian Fellowes could not have created a better milieu for her than the flat she inherited through Michael Gregson, who met an untimely death in Germany.
But before he did, Fellowes used Lady Edith’s character to express the cultural and historical changes in Great Britain, and he did so more powerfully with her than with any other personality he crafted for the series in my opinion. He began what I consider a brilliant tack for her in season four when she began the move toward a more modern life. One of my favorite scenes is when she is attending a party at Gregson’s in 1922, and is having a conversation with Virginia Woolf.
Once she inherits the flat, her aunt Rosamund walks into the trendy room and exclaims, “Oh, my dear, how exotic. I expect to find the whole of the Bloomsbury Set curled up in a corner with a book!” Edith replies, “Michael knew quite a few of them, actually. I met Virginia Woolf in this room, and Lytton Strachey, although he didn’t stay long.” How brilliant is that for setting a scene? Quite, I’d say!
Leigh Hunt Avid Decorator
This essay about the decorating exploits of Leigh Hunt is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the…
View More Leigh Hunt Avid DecoratorThe Nature of Noble Loyalty
It’s spring in London and the flowers are bursting forth on Cheyne Walk, which skirts the edge of the River Thames until it gives way…
View More The Nature of Noble LoyaltyHeaven Shall Be Here
In the film A Little Chaos, Alan Rickman, who plays an unlikely Louis XIV, declares, “Heaven shall be here.” He’s speaking of a ballroom he…
View More Heaven Shall Be HereThe Seat of Scottish Power
As the opening credits roll during the film Her Majesty, Mrs Brown, a Markino marble bust, which has been tossed over a castle’s ramparts, tumbles…
View More The Seat of Scottish PowerCelebrating Shakespeare
Celebrating Shakespeare The 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death is April 23rd, the date he passed in 1616 at the age of 52 believed to…
View More Celebrating ShakespeareThe Built Legacy of Henry VIII
The 2016 Academy Awards are handed out this coming Sunday so I’m celebrating a film that showcases the built legacy of Henry VIII to delve back into…
View More The Built Legacy of Henry VIIII Met Virginia Woolf in This Room
Who else is relieved that Lady Edith Crawley, played by Laura Carmichael, is finally finding happiness on Downton Abbey? Having binged on all of the…
View More I Met Virginia Woolf in This RoomRenovating During the Tudor Era
Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. Looking back to the Tudor Era from this great distance, it’s easy to see how barbaric a sport jousting was.…
View More Renovating During the Tudor EraOne Special Summer with Jackie O
Hegel’s caveat “history teaches us nothing” may be relevant in cultural and philosophical realities but in the design world the statement is far from succinct.…
View More One Special Summer with Jackie O