<p>I liked sobel in the beginning, but this season not so much. She was not so good when Ethel (ugly name sorry) had to give up Charlie. How the heck is she going to support a son. Ethel made that clear. Isobel is very idealistic but not realistic.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I saw an interview with the actress that plays O’Brien and other cast members. They were all talking about what roles they hoped to get, and “O’Brien” said something like, “I was thinking, Oooo, I hope I get to wear a silly wig and sideburns!”</p>
<p>VeryHappy, I was thinking the same thing. O’Brien’s coiffuer is meant to be unattractive. Remember Matthew’s response when Robert informed him that tradition obligated Matthew to dance with O’Brien at the servants’ Christmas ball? “Crikey!!!”</p>
<p>^LOL. Nice to know there are so many avid Downton fans here. I can’t say the number of times I’ve asked someone if they watch DA and they look perplexed, never heard of it. Really, where have you been? It’s always hard to explain the show to these people, never translates well.</p>
<p>I’m definitely with those who dislike Mary. She’s always put out with poor Matthew. What kind of mother will she be? I’m thinking she may want to take over mothering her sister’s (catholic) baby which will cause a rift.</p>
<p>I think Tom has to take the baby off somewhere, probably back to Ireland. The way time passes on this show, they could never keep up with the changes in a baby/toddler/child. It’s bad enough 8 years have passed and the adults all still look the same!</p>
<p>This may have been covered before, but I want to know why all the women wear their hats (and coats?) indoors so often? Was that done when visiting? I keep thinking they must be hot under all those layers.</p>
<p>Actually, the hats and coats didn’t strike me as that odd, due to the lack of central heating, and the fact that Britain is comparatively cold during much of the year. Years ago, in England I sometimes wore a coat and gloves indoors (and a knit cap to sleep in). A friend of mine said that the coldest he had ever been was the time he stayed overnight in a British professor’s home.</p>
<p>And if they’re hot under all those layers in cold, gray England imagine Victorian/Edwardian men and women in the South or India. I’d die. Here’s an article about how people who wear many layers of clothes make due today in summertime–one reason I could never be an Orthodox Jew: <a href=“Hasidic Jews in Heavy Dress Bear Up in Summer - The New York Times”>Hasidic Jews in Heavy Dress Bear Up in Summer - The New York Times;
<p>Note though as the show enters the roaring twenties, the (younger) women are wearing fewer layers and shorter skirts, while the men are still stuck in layers of jackets and vests. Heck, it was not until the 60s that you could even go to a baseball game in shorts and a T. If you look at baseball games from the 20s and 30s, all the men were in jackets and fedoras. Not only women are slaves to fashion.</p>
<p>^^With the exception of the disappearance of the fedora (and we can bless the memory of JFK for his having sunk the fedora), men’s fashion hasn’t changed all that much over the decades. Lapels get wider and thinner again, vests come and go, and there have been a few short-lived aberrations along the way (remember Nehru jackets?), but overall a business suit is still basically the same as it was hundred years ago.</p>
<p>What has radically changed are the notions of what is proper to wear in public. Men wore suits to baseball games back then because that was the proper way to dress when going out to most public places. Shorts and t-shirts would have acceptable only for a day at the beach, never a ball game much less say a restaurant.</p>
<p>I loved the clothes of Season 1–that era was just really pretty, with beautiful fitted bodices and sheer long sleeves and jet beading and jewelry. I have really hated the 20s on the show–the dropped-waist styles are just not flattering (even on skinny Mary) and the long jacket/long skirt getups are god-awful, in my opinion.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking the women in their sleeveless evening gowns must be really cold. The men have enough layers to stop the drafts. Given the lack of central heating, I would think the women would all be huddled around the fire after dinner.</p>
<p>opera…LOL</p>
<p>Also thought, “aren’t you cold?” when Mary came down to dinner in a sleeveless 1920’s dress.</p>
<p>She was in a sleeveless dress out in the snow during Matthew’s proposal, too. I was shivering just watching her.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sally, I’ve been thinking the same thing! They started with the sinking of the Titanic, so they couldn’t have started further back in time, and I guess they wanted to get to WWI, but I wish they had lingered in the earlier costume era for longer.</p>
<p>Except that the “snow” was bits of styrofoam blowing around!</p>
<p>Tom can’t go back to Ireland with the baby, remember? They are having a War of Indpendence for the next 2 years and then they have a Civil War. He can’t set foot there until the Free Irish State is officially recognized & the treaty is signed.</p>
<p>You’re right of course, but I still think they can’t have a baby around - they shuffled off poor Charlie. </p>
<p>BTW, the episode descriptions on my TV have been saying “Irish Civil War” rather than the war for Irish independence, ever since Tom and Sybil were in Ireland. Either they are fudging the history, or it’s later than we think. </p>
<p>I just checked the description at PBS online, and episode 3 says “Two social revolutions arrive at Downton Abbey: the Irish civil war and the fight for women’s suffrage.” So what’s up?</p>
<p>Regarding women being underdressed and men being overdressed. I’ve always thought it strange that that phenomena is still going on. Look at any formal dance today - men are dressed in layers, but women generally have on something flimsy and silly shoes. </p>
<p>BTW, loved the latest Downton Abby FB script!</p>
<p>Actually, having a baby around shouldn’t be too difficult for the show to pull off. I can’t imagine that babies at the time were very visible…they certainly didn’t dress them up and pull up a high chair for dinner.</p>