'Dressing the Abbey'

Jun. 22—LAKE PLACID — Downton Abbey fans can go on a fashion crawl through the exhibit, "Dressing the Abbey," which opens today at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts.

On exhibit from June 22 through Sept. 10, "Dressing the Abbey" weaves popular culture, fashion, and history in an exhibition borrowed from the hit PBS television show Downton Abbey's™ wardrobe, according to a press release.

Experience original costumes worn by the stars of Downton Abbey that depict fashions of the British aristocracy in the early 20th century. The exhibition showcases the turbulence and changes in the late Edwardian era through the 1920s through the fashions of the period while evoking fans' favorite moments.

The exhibition is developed and distributed by Exhibits Development Group in. cooperation with Cosprop Ltd., London, England.

"We love the intersection of art and history and entertainment," Alison Simcox, LPCA director of communications, said.

"This is such a fun, collaborative exhibit, so it seemed like a perfect fit. We can share something that has these different disciplines with our community. We love that aspect of it. We got the company that runs the exhibit contacted us, and they had a great opportunity for when it was available in the summertime. So, we were able to work that out."

PREVIEW PARTY

Be the first to see "Dressing the Abbey" at an exclusive "Preview Party," today from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Adding to the celebration, the Adirondack String Orchestra presents their free Community Concert on the LPCA stage featuring the Downton Abbey™ theme song. Admission is $15.

The exhibit officially opens Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be an "Opening Night Celebration," and your $30 ticket includes admission to the exhibit, wine and beer, and hors d'oeuvres. Dress in your finest Downton Abbey™ inspired attire to receive $5 off your admission.

The LPCA was approached by Exhibits Development Group to host the exhibit featuring 35 bespoke costumes ranging from country tweeds and riding outfits; servants' uniforms and footman's livery; to lavish evening attire crafted from sumptuous fabrics and decorated with intricate embroidery, lace, and beading.

"There's a wide variety of both the lords and the ladies and the common folk, the servants, so it's a really nice combination of the different characters' costumes and the beloved characters' costumes that they use for different types of things from travel to sleeping to parties, etc.," Simcox said.

Favorite costume?

"I don't, but I have to say that seeing them in person it almost gives me goosebumps because you can see them and how wonderful they look on the actors, but then to see them in person you really see the incredible craftsmanship of some of them," she said.

"They are all interesting in different ways."

The exhibition's award-winning costumes created for the British hit drama were produced by the London costume house of Cosprop Ltd.

"This is a very unique opportunity for upstate New York. We selected Lake Placid due to James (Lemons, LPCA executive director) & Jon's (Donk, LPCA managing director) enthusiasm to host the exhibit and for the thousands of fans of Downton Abbey in New York, Vermont and Montréal who have been wishing for the exhibition," Amy Noble Seitz, curator and producer of exhibition, said in a press release.

"It is the last venue to host exhibition after our premiere in 2015 at the Biltmore Estate."

The costumes were created for the show's aristocratic Crawley family and their servants who inhabit the fictional English country estate of Downton Abbey. The costumes range from country tweeds and riding outfits; servants' uniforms and footmen's livery; to lavish evening attire crafted from sumptuous fabrics and decorated with intricate embroidery, lace, and beading.

PARALLEL WORLDS

Adding to the exhibit, the LPCA has partnered with the Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society and John Brown Lives! to highlight photography and artifacts depicting local life during the same era. This supplemental exhibition compares and contrasts what life was like in both locations — England and the Adirondack North Country.

"We're excited to partner with some of our friends, local historical society, to share some more about what are the parallels because we're looking at a different country but a similar period of time and a snapshot of that era," Simcox said.

"We do have some artifacts that we're be able to share throughout the course of the exhibit that will help people to draw those parallels and to imagine our world here the North Country versus their world across the pond."

LPCA will also offer a series of programs to enrich the visitor experience throughout the run of the exhibit. Visitors can learn more and make plans around these forthcoming special events at lpca.org

"We are going to be announcing events throughout the course of the exhibit," Simcox said.

"We thought it would be really fun. We're just excited for folks to see it and enjoy it."

This program is sponsored in part by Mountain Lake PBS, Mirror Lake Inn, Grand Adirondack Hotel, Hotel Saranac, North Country Radio and Adirondack Premier Properties.

"Mountain Lake PBS, of course, is working with us to promote it and showcase it," Simcox said.

"We have a lot of partners that are helping us to share this with the rest of the community. A picture can only capture so much, and when you see it in person it's really cool to get to imagine the actors, and the places they wore them, and the sets and everything.

The LPCA reminds people the gallery will be opened until 6 p.m.

"It's a great thing to do, even after you've done your daytime hike," Simcox said.

"You're done with that and you want something else to in the day or before you go out on a boat ride or whatever. So, we're extending hours beyond where we would normally be open so we can catch people around other fun stuff they need to do all summer."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell