FASHION Magazine

Read all of our Downton Abbey recaps from previous seasons »

Downtonians rejoice! Downton Abbey returns this weekend with the premiere of its third season. While the season has already aired in the U.K. (causing us to avoid all and every online mention of Downton Abbey for fear of spoilers) we’ve been eagerly anticipating its North American debut ever since season two ended last February.

The period-drama-meets-soap-opera series, which follows the lives of English aristocracy and their servants, has become a favorite amongst the fashion crowd due to the elaborate costumes and set designs. Considering that season three takes place in the 1920s, we’re even more excited for Great Gatsby-esque outfits.

View the Christmas stocking
stuffers ideas »

Back in our childhood, Christmas stockings were usually filled with chocolate, candy, socks and underwear (thanks Mom and Dad!). For 2012 however, the amount of stuff and the price tags that come with them can tend to add up. For our 2012 gift guide, we have many different stocking stuffers that will suit anybody in your family and with each item retailing for $25 or under, you may even want to buy one for yourself too.

The stocking stuffers featured here are pretty much foolproof, as in you’re bound to find at least a few items here that anybody on your Christmas gift list will love. From The Body Shop’s festive array of gingerbread body polish and bath crystals to tech items like iPhone covers and funky headphones, these Christmas gift idea stocking stuffers are sure to be opened with excitement come Christmas morning.

Drink in the magic of Fall 2012 with FASHION’s first look at the hottest shows, most bewitching sets, best new trends and more.

See all »

JUMP TO: NEW YORK | LONDON | MILAN | PARIS

If you’re even a fraction as obsessed with Downton Abbey as we are, then news that Jessica Brown Findlay and Rob James Collier (or, as we prefer them, Lady Sybil and Thomas) are covering Love magazine probably has you in a similar state of excitement. Love tweeted sneak peeks of the covers, which were shot […]

The post Downton fever! Jessica Brown Findlay and Rob James Collier (aka. Lady Sybil and Thomas) cover LOVE Magazine’s latest issue appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Browsing the newsstand at London’s Heathrow Airport last November, I found tabloids full of footballers’ wives, all orange of complexion and platform of shoe, and the glossier monthlies stocked with society girls. But whether their readers’ penchant was for players’ wives or the polo set, every magazine I read contained at least one story extolling the brilliance of Downton Abbey.

Meanwhile, in North America, despite winning six Emmys last September, Downton Abbey hadn’t yet broken into the mainstream. The ITV1 television series set in World War I–era England chronicles in equal measure the lives of the upper-class Crawley family and their servants. A quiet but respectable viewership had discovered the show in its first season on PBS’s Masterpiece Classic, but when season two began at the start of 2012, we fell into the grips of a collective Downton fever like a heartbroken fiancée succumbing to Spanish flu. This might be because Downton offers something for almost everyone. There is the wealth and glamour of the Crawley family, who dress every night for dinner as though they’re attending the Met Ball. Downstairs, the servants’ plays for household power mirror the tension of Glengarry Glen Ross, except here it’s “A-Always, B-Be, C-Conspiring.” And juxtaposed against the feeling that you’re watching a classic literary adaptation are elements that reflect a contemporary audience, from caught-in-the-act trysts to the characters learning how to use a telephone. Downton is no Greek drama, with the action happening offstage.

Of course, there is romance. The will-they-or-won’t-they relationships of two sets of lovers have kept viewers tuning in: more than five million watched the season two finale. In Canada, Downton is now enjoying a run on VisionTV on Wednesday evenings.

“There’s a cadre of people who are watching it because it’s an allowable soap,” says New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum. “It’s dressed up in all sorts of fancy class indicators including, but not limited to, England, PBS and historical times, and rich people in large country houses.” And, as Nussbaum adds, it is very well made, costing roughly $1.6 million per episode to produce.

It’s also extremely fun to talk about. With season two came online recaps from New York magazine’s Vulture and Vanity Fair’s The Hollywood Blog (we at FASHION produced a wonderful one). Further signs of the show’s reach include character-inspired Twitter accounts and countless memes—all that’s missing is a Tumblr of Ryan Gosling Hey Girl–ing the women of Downton.

Since the lords, ladies, and servants of a certain English period series came into our lives, we’ve scarcely been able to talk about anything else! (Raf who?) Not even the Oscars filled our Sunday night void. Downton Abbey has been thrilling us since the first season aired last year, but it seems that the buzz regarding this latest instalment has come to a fever pitch. While our recaps are obviously the best way to relive season 2, we’ve pulled together another 8 awesome ways to savour Downton till the last drop, that is, until it returns (with Shirley MacLaine as Cora’s mother!) next year on PBS.

By Randi Bergman and Paige Dzenis

We almost jumped off a ledge when we thought that last week’s two-hour marathon finale would be the last that we’d see of the Abbeyers for quite some time, but alas, there was still a Christmas miracle in store! In February, no less. Last night’s holiday special taught us that it’s still okay to wish on stars, and eyelashes… and Santa—because our wish came true. Matthew and Mary finally got together! In the snow, no less! And now, for the rest of the seemingly inconsequential details:

We look back at the best and worst Christmas moments »
Find out how you can win the Season One and Season Two DVDs! »

View the many (and we mean many) Mulberry celeb attendees »

Where to begin. With the celebs? Lana Del Rey (carrying the namesake Del Rey bag from the ever-growing fashion house), Michelle Williams, the surprisingly petite Elizabeth Olsen, Leigh Lezark, and Ladies Mary and Edith Crawey—I mean Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael—all sat front row at Mulberry; and then there were the models (Jacquetta Wheeler, Irina Lazareanu) and It girls Poppy Delevigne and model/It girl/socialite Caroline Sieber at Matthew Williamson.

As I get ready to hand the reigns over to Rebecca Tay for her coverage of London Fashion Week, let’s take a moment to digest what went down this week in New York. From the top trends developing to some of the best moments, I attempt to break it down in an orderless top 10:

Read up on the week »

By Randi Bergman and Paige Dzenis

How did that happen? It seemed like season two of Downton Abbey just started—but last night PBS surprised us with a two-hour finale. (Which, for the record, we’ve filed into our “worst” category—you shouldn’t be tricked into galloping through the final moments of a series! We thought there were still two episodes left to savour!) In the finale, emotions run almost as high as fevers, everyone becomes privy to a few upstairs/downstairs trysts, and Matthew returns to his emo ways.

We explore the best and worst moments of the finale and wonder what’s to come »
Find out how to win the Season One and Season Two DVDs! » »

By Randi Bergman and Paige Dzenis

This week on our favourite show on earth, WWI came neatly to a close with all of the Abbey-ers coming to celebrate in the Great Hall. But before that could happen, we were further thrust into the war’s wreckage with the introduction of a newly deformed character, Patrick Crawley! You know, the one who died on the Titanic five years earlier? Yeah, him. Complete with burnt-off face and more, he returns to threaten (the also damaged) Matthew’s claim to the role of heir. To boot, Carlisle’s quickly turning into the psycho we knew he’d be, Vera dies a very messy death, and worst of all, Carson’s poached from his service! The horror!

Let’s take a look back at the hovering-on-the-ridiculous episode »
Find out how to win the Season One and Season Two DVDs! »

By Randi Bergman and Paige Dzenis

We appear to have travelled nine months into the future since the last episode (hello, Ethel’s baby!) and it’s not looking good. Matthew and William are both gravely injured at war and have returned to Downton to recover—but neither have a positive prognosis. Mary’s doing damage control, Bates is still battling his ex, and the Earl, as usual, spends the episode in uniform looking for something to do.

Try not to sob as we review the best and worst moments of the show! »