Tickets on sale for Biltmore ‘Downton Abbey’ exhibit
ASHEVILLE – The new season of “Downton Abbey” will make its British TV debut in a couple weeks. But as American fans of the drama wait for the popular series to return to stateside PBS in January, they can plan their visit to a local exhibit of the show’s costumes.
Tickets are on sale now for the February show, titled “Dressing Downton: Changing Fashion for Changing Times.” The exhibit is designed by Exhibits Development Group in cooperation with London’s Cosprop Ltd., which created the TV series’ costumes.
The outfits will be shown within Biltmore House. As always, season pass holders may visit any time but may need free timed tickets for admission to the house on busy days.
Non-pass holders can purchase tickets for a regular estate visit on the date they plan to attend; no additional ticket is required for the exhibition. Tickets are available online at www.biltmore.com/visit/. Click on “Plan Your Visit,” then “Admission Tickets.”
The show features more than 40 costumes from the series, about to enter its fifth season. The Biltmore exhibit runs through Memorial Day.
The clothing will be showcased in rooms throughout Biltmore House in groupings inspired by the fictional show and by real life at Biltmore, the 250-room Asheville home George Vanderbilt built and lived in during the same era as the fictional show.
Biltmore opened at Christmas 1895. The story of “Downton Abbey” began with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 — when in real life George, his wife Edith and daughter Cornelia all still lived at Biltmore. (George and Edith, traveling home from Europe, were booked on the Titanic but decided to take a later ship.)
George died unexpectedly in 1914, but the family remained in the home throughout the time period of “Downton.” The period costumes in the exhibition cover that period, from 1912 through World War I and into the dawn of the Jazz Age in the early 1920s.
As part of the exhibit, “new stories will be shared about George Vanderbilt, his wife Edith, and their daughter Cornelia,” the estate said in a press statement.
“The day-to-day running of the house was surprisingly similar to that of Downton Abbey,” said Biltmore’s director of museum services, Ellen Rickman. “Just like Downton has [butler] Mr. Carson and [housekeeper] Mrs. Hughes, Biltmore had its own cast of fascinating characters. Displaying these fabulous costumes from the show gives us an unparalleled opportunity to delve into Biltmore’s stories.”
The press statement noted that costumes in the show “will range from country tweeds, to servants’ uniforms, to lavish gowns and evening attire cut from fine fabrics.
For more Biltmore visitor information, visit www.Biltmore.com or call 800-411-3812.