The OAK: How to Dress in Downton Abbey Style, Part 2: The Roaring Twenties!

Downton Abbey is back, lords and ladies (although I highly doubt there are very many lords that will be reading this extensively), and I'm feeling in the mood to dress just like our favorite characters on the most beloved Upstairs/Downstairs show of all time. Since my last Downton Abbey post was so popular, I figured that with Season 4 in full swing here in America, it was the perfect opportunity to showcase the fabulous styles in the new era facing our the Crawley family and their staff.

It's the 20's now and bounds and limits are being broken left and right. It's a post-war England and people are finally taking a well deserved deep breath for the first time in a long time. The style of the era calls for daring and provocative (as provocative as a Lord and Lady of the time could get, I suppose), and that means showing more skin and wearing flashier clothes. There 20's was a time of freedom and experimentation, progression and advancement, and when you have the money and means of nobility, no fashion is off limits.

That said, there are still a few rules by which to play by, at least when it comes to formal wear:

Form figure dresses were not the order of the day; loose hanging and drape-y dresses with shorter hemlineswere the main focus, as were the fabulous women who wore them.
Embellishments and adornments, such as beading and fringe, were all the rage.
Color was back in a big way after years of monochromatic colors that were meant to highlight a nation at war.
Skin was everywhere. Shoulders and clavicles were being exposed at an alarming rate. Times were a changing!

The ladies of the 20's were not unlike we ladies today, so if you have a penchant for dressing jazzy (this focuses more on evening- and formal-wear), take a cue from this post! For my most loyal and modest readers, skin is optional; place an embellished cardigan or a velvet wrap over any of these dresses to reach your roaring 20's comfort level.

ASOS BLACK Premium Flower Embellished Maxi Dress