March 7, 2014
Dressing for Downton: Costumes from Downton Abbey
exhibit to open Tuesday at Spadina Museum
Mayor Rob Ford was joined by Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22 St. Paul's) at a media
preview event held for the upcoming Dressing for Downton: Costumes from Downton
Abbey exhibition at Spadina Museum. The Canadian premiere of this exhibition of
costumes worn by the characters of the award-winning British television series will be on
display from March 11 to April 13.
"It is great to see a public and private sector collaboration like this help make our heritage
more accessible and interesting for people of all ages," said Mayor Ford.
Presented by the City of Toronto in partnership with VisionTV/ZoomerMedia, this exhibition
features 20 Downton Abbey costumes from seasons one to three, borrowed from Cosprop,
Ltd., the London-based costume house that designs and creates the beautiful clothing worn
by the cast of the television show. Nine of the costumes have accompanying hats. All of the
costumes are historically accurate, some made entirely of new textiles and others a mix of
new and vintage fabrics.
The costumes are identified by character and season with labels that feature photographs
of cast members wearing the exhibited costumes. The tour takes visitors through the
museum's family and servants' spaces and links the characters and events from the TV
show to real Toronto history.
“This one-of-a-kind exhibition offers an innovative look at the manners and dress of a
fascinating period of history,” said Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37 Scarborough
Centre), Chair of the Economic Development Committee. "By looking at a period’s fashion,
the story of the times is revealed in an intimate and personal way.”
In addition to the Downton costumes, the exhibit will feature items from the City of Toronto's
artifact collection, which highlights examples of clothing worn by Torontonians during the
Downton Abbey era. Featured items include five dresses and a selection of accessories
that includes shoes, purses and jewellery. A beautiful velvet and satin dress worn by one of
the Austin family members, who lived in the home that is now Spadina Museum will be
exhibited along with its corresponding velvet jacket. The two pieces were purchased in
Toronto and have labels indicating Boase Gowns Toronto.
“Spadina Museum is the ideal location for the Canadian premiere of the Downtown Abbey
exhibition,” said Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22 St. Paul's). “Residents and visitors will
have an opportunity to learn about the lives of the Spadina's Austin family and those in their
employ, through the fictional lens of Downton Abbey's Crawley family and their servants.”
They negotiated the transfer of the house, its furnishings and remaining acreage to the City
of Toronto and the Province of Ontario in 1978. Spadina Museum opened to the public in
1984 and was revitalized to explore the interwar years focusing on the 1920s during a
restoration in 2010.
“With our global expertise in transporting these types of special deliveries around the globe,
we are delighted to partner with Spadina Museum in bringing these costumes to Canada,"
said Greg Hewitt, President of DHL Express Canada.
Advance tickets are available at https://spadinamuseum.streamintickets.com/. Tickets are
$25 weekdays/$30 on weekends (plus taxes) a person. The museum is open daily from
Tuesday to Sunday and closed Mondays.
Dressing for Downton: Costumes from Downton Abbey is sponsored by Vision TV/Zoomer
Media, the Toronto Star, DHL, Visit Britain, DH Tour and Palatine Hills Estate Winery.
Spadina Museum: Historic House and Gardens is one of 10 historic museums operated by
the City of Toronto. Located at 285 Spadina Rd., it's Toronto's only museum to represent
the 1920s and '30s. Visitors can view unique exhibits, artifacts, furnishings and original
materials and explore the estate's restored 1905 gardens.
More information is available at http://www.toronto.ca/spadina and on
Facebook.com/spadinamuseum or follow on Twitter @spadinamuseum
About VisionTV
VisionTV is home to the best British comedies, soaps and dramas and is the official and
exclusive Canadian broadcaster of the complete Downton Abbey series. An encore
presentation of Season 3 begins March 19 at 10 p.m. and the Canadian premiere of
Season 4 begins May 28 at 9 p.m. Watch Vision TV in Toronto on Rogers Cable channels
60 and 237 and on Bell TV channel 261. For all things Downton Abbey including complete
cast list, character bios, episode synopses, photos, blog, and behind the scenes videos
visit http://www.visiontv.ca/downton-abbey.
Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse
population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and
culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to
be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For
information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses
and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or
follow us @TorontoComms.
- 30Media contact: Shane Gerard, Strategic Communications, 416-397-5711,
sgerard@toronto.ca