Behind the Scenes at Downton Abbey (28 page)

Different occasions demand different hairstyles for the ladies, which is another consideration for the make-up team. ‘When you’re at Highclere it gets really interesting, because everybody is either having dinner, or at a party, or something is happening where they need to have a more formal look,’ says Katie Pickles, one of the hair and make-up artists. To create the various up-dos that this look demands, Vaughan and her team switch between using the cast’s natural hair, helped by hairpieces to give length or weight, and full-on wigs.

Dressing these elegant hairstyles is also an important part of styling for evening scenes. Jewels, feathers and bandeaux are all crucial to the Twenties party look – and of course tiaras, should you be so lucky. ‘People wore hair ornaments in the evening much more than they do now,’ says Caroline McCall. ‘If you were a married woman you could wear a tiara, but not if you were unmarried. The aristocracy wore real jewellery, too, but those who couldn’t afford genuine gemstones would wear imitation stones made from glass, known as paste.’

Post-war, ladies began to wear tiaras in a modern way, echoing the style of the more democratic bandeau. ‘The bandeau originated with Paul Poiret, the French fashion designer in the Teens, who created the sort of clothes Sybil was wearing in the first series,’ says McCall. ‘People began to pick this up and you started to see pictures of women wearing tiaras in a more fashionable way, set lower on the forehead.’ The hair had to complement these decorations and would be sculpted to hide the unsightly ‘arms’ of the tiaras.

For scenes involving many extras, such as parties and club scenes, the six-strong hair and make-up team must call on additional ‘dailies’ to help them transform the crowd. For instance, when filming busy scenes at the Criterion restaurant in London an extra ten or so hair and make-up artists were on set.

As is typical of the early Twenties’ look, the extras wear their hair up and waved, finished with a bandeau or other delicate headpiece.

Adam James Phillips, the show’s key hair stylist, admits these styles are kept in place during long filming sessions only with the aid of ‘a lot of strategically placed pins and a lot of hairspray’.

For this style the team must first put the hair of each actress in heated rollers to give it volume and some ‘bends’ to work with, Phillips explains. ‘So then when you brush it through you get a much looser wave, but the hair will be going in the right direction. Then you clamp the wave with tongs to accentuate it and add the crests onto the waves.’ Elegance personified.

What Mary has, Edith tends to want, which in part explains how the latest hairstyle may have spread through the house. ‘In my mind, one of the sisters would say, “Oh, I like your hair, can I have that?’’’ says Vaughan. ‘And then Anna did Edith’s hair for a little while, because Edith didn’t have her own maid. So that’s when that journey started. And then their mother might say, “Oh, can you do something similar with mine?” So it evolves like that.’

Laura Carmichael believes that her character’s changing style has been partly driven by her attempts to get Sir Anthony Strallan’s attention. Although he jilted her at the altar, he did at least notice she had done ‘something jolly’ to her hair, she laughs.

To the untrained eye, Edith’s latest look appears to be a Marcel, but it is in fact another style – finger-waving. Here, soaking wet hair is clamped into waves, then left to dry. ‘The hair then lies that bit closer to the head, which suits Laura better,’ says Adam James Phillips.

While the younger generations at Downton Abbey begin to embrace the changing fashions of the post-war era, others remain immovable in their style. Violet is one such character who steadfastly ignores the winds of change in many ways – including her hair-do. As would most grandmothers, Violet maintains a completely different look to the younger generation, ‘more Queen Mary-ish’, Vaughan describes it.

‘With the older generation, their look is always a couple of years behind. Maybe with the influence of the current hairstyle, but not so up to date,’ explains Adam James Phillips. ‘I changed Violet’s hair a bit this year, so she’s still got the piled-up Edwardian look, but it’s got more of a Marcel-looking tong to it. The influence would have come in, but just in a different form.’

Conscious that Isobel Crawley does not have a lady’s maid in series four, the team have taken a simple approach to her hair. She has not let herself go, though; grieving as she is, she still has her pride. ‘Isobel doesn’t like to be at a disadvantage,’ says Penelope Wilton. ‘She’s up to the moment, but she dresses her age. She doesn’t have her hair in the latest look, but she does what she can with what she’s got.’

For the make-up team, the contrasts between the
Downton
women help to create a visual richness for the viewer. ‘Violet is always going to be of another generation – and I love that she is,’ says Katie Pickles. ‘To see the difference between her and her granddaughters is nice. From a hair and make-up point of view, I love seeing this variance when they are all sitting together.’