FASHION Magazine
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Mr. Selfridge: 5 questions with the costume designer behind the opulent new period miniseries starring Jeremy Piven
Photography courtesy of ITV for MASTERPIECE See photos of the Mr Selfridge costumes »
If you’ve failed to get your guy hooked on Downton Abbey, sell him on Masterpiece’s latest costume drama by uttering just two words: Ari Gold. Yes, Entourage’s agent-with-a-heart-of-coal has gone costume. As the titular Mr. Selfridge, Jeremy Piven is the main attraction in this eight-part miniseries premiering on PBS on Sunday, March 31. If the name Selfridge doesn’t conjure up London’s Oxford-street shopping Shangri-La, then consider this your department store master class. The series charts American Harry Gordon Selfridge, a gregarious entrepreneur, as he struggles to get his namesake store off the ground in 1909. While Piven fills the dapper shoes of the retail magnate, there’s plenty of women to distract: Harry’s wife Rose, chorus girl Ellen Love who catches his eye (and maybe his heart), Lady Mae who helps him find funds, and the many shopgirls that populate Harry’s days. Dressing the man who revolutionized retail with his in-store stunts and these pretty birds is BAFTA fave James Keast, who talks to us about the intricacies of dressing such a large cast, his favourite accessory, and more.
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They said/We said: PBS forced to remove Downton Abbey-inspired jewellery
Photography By Nick Briggs/ITV For Masterpiece Courtesy Of eOne Films Well, we’re sure the Dowager Countess will have her knickers in a knot over this one. The U.K. production company Carnival Films—which is responsible for the creation of our latest TV obsession Downton Abbey—is taking legal action against PBS for selling unofficial Downton-inspired jewellery (named after the characters!) on their website.
The jewellery line looks more Downtown Alley if you ask us, with a lackluster collection of pearl drop earrings, brooches, and an English crown service tea set that would no doubt have Granny stamping her cane around like nobody’s business.
A Carnival Films spokesman announced, “We did not authorize the sale of Lady Mary jewellery. Our lawyers have been in contact with PBS in order to remove these items from sale,” and rightfully so, since Carnival Films and the show’s creator, Julian Fellowes, will not receive any profits from the sales (and probably don’t want to be associated with the cheap knockoffs).
The collection was removed from the PBS website on Tuesday afternoon.