'Downton Abbey' costumes at Winterthur

If you missed Winterthur's splendid Downton Abbey costume exhibit which closed Sunday after a 10-month run, here are some photos of the display. The former home of Henry F. du Pont (1880-1969), Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Winterthur, Delaware will re-open to the public March 1 when spring starts up.

 

Let yours blossom with a day trip up to Winterthur, less than two months and about two hours away, north on Interstate 95.  (Take $16 for tolls north and about $12, heading home.) Winterthur has a garden calendar, too. An excellent day trip from Washington combines Winterthur and Brandywine River Museum, the home and studios of N.C. and Andrew Wyeth, just six miles from Winterthur.  Would you believe they both have places to eat and to shop?/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

 This is one of the gowns worn by Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey, in the gown above/Photo of a photo by Patricia Leslie

An array of finery, including Maggie Smith's gown, at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A summer's day at Downton Abbey and at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library/Photo by Patricia Leslie

"Oh, Bill! Am I ever gonna see my wedding day?" Worn in Downton Abbey/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Close-up of the wedding dress above/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Downton Abbey gowns at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Close-up of the dress on the left, above/Photo by Patricia Leslie

"M'lady, where are your gloves?"  "In the case where I left them." A label at the Winterthur show quoted Emily Post from 1922:  "Ladies always wear gloves to formal dinners but take them off at the table.  Entirely off....Both glove and fan are supposed to be laid across the lap, and one is supposed to lay the napkin folded once in half across the lap too, on top of the gloves and fan."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Downton Abbey gowns, three  of the 40 costumes in the show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

From Downton Abbey/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The wife of Henry du Pont was Ruth Wales du Pont (1899-1967) ("the best thing that ever happened to him") and this is her "quite heavy" travel case (of alligator or crocodile and carried by the maid) made c. 1920 in England.  Among other items, it contained an address book, ink well and sketch pad, 10 gold-plated and capped cosmetic bottles, an ash tray, photo case, clock, thimble, needle case, shoe horn, button hook, two lipstick cases (one with a lipstick), hairbrush,  combs, hair pin box, soap case, two toothbrushes, a mirror and jewelry box/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Downton Abbey gowns/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This is what you wear for a wedding proposal.  Mine were a trifle removed from these/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Downton Abbey gowns/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

What: Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

When:  Opening for the 2015 season on March 1

Where: 5105 Kennett Pike (Route 52)
Winterthur, DE 19735 (Winterthur says Google Maps sometimes gives incorrect directions, so it recommends MapQuest.)

Admission: Members are always admitted free. Adults, $25; seniors and students, $23; children, 2-11, $5, and no charge for children under age 2.

For more information: 800-448-3883 

patricialesli@gmail.com

 

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library/Winterthur

'Quartet' is sweet and slooowww

BBC Films

 

Like the wheels on a wheelchair which go round and round, these are the days of their lives in a retirement community for musicians at a luxurious estate in Buckinghamshire, England. 

Has there been a more placid British film? 

Dustin Hoffman may not look 75 but his directorial debut affirms his age.  He must have had nursing homes in mind when he made Quartet since it’s ripe pickings for them.  And quite predictable.

Except for a few critical F-bombs, the movie is harmless, however, shorn of the dull parts and with more hilarious lines, the movie could have been lots better.  Give me those late night writers! And some action, please.  What?  We can’t stand to see old people kiss and make hoochee? Or sing?

Quartet is about as lively as Tom Courtenay and Maggie Smith in this scene/BBC Films 

 

Show stealers are certainly Pauline Collins and Billy Connolly.   Why would anyone like Maggie Smith’s character want to re-marry a grumpy old man like Tom Courtenay's character?  Had he hinted at a smile once, his face might have fallen off. Women are not that desperate, Mr. Hoffman. Please supply some humor occasionally, Grumpy Old Man.

Unless scenery (Mother Nature) is a new category, the movie will win no awards, but the musical score is grand (Dario Marianelli).

Had a travel agent been posted at the theater exit, she/he would have needed an assistant.  Two assistants.  I am ready to go!  (With a side trip to Leicester, please.)

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Hang around for the credits at the end to rock your wheelchair.

At E-Street last Friday night, the 7:15 p.m. feature was almost sold out (small theater) to those generally above age 50.  No surprise, however, the vast quantities of wine consumed by moviegoers and the clinking of discarded bottles upon the floor at the end were ear lifters.