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Tea lovers, history buffs, and anyone looking to escape everyday life will thoroughly enjoy attending the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum’s annual Victorian Tea surrounded by the timeless splendor of this iconic National Historic Landmark. The event will feature a talk by Susan J. Jerome, Collections Manager at the University of Rhode Island Historic Textile and Costume Collection titled From Downton Abbey to Camelot and a formal traditional English tea.

From Downton Abbey to Camelot

Women’s clothing in the 20^th century underwent dramatic changes, encouraged by two world wars, technological advances, and many social changes signaled by the ratification of the 19^th Amendment. By the 1950s, “wash and wear” and “permanent press” illustrated the labor saving ideas meant to free a woman from the drudgeries of household work. The end of wartime rationing and the New Look designed by Christian Dior heralded continuing modifications to women’s clothes. As the role of women in society continued to change, so did the clothes worn by the modern woman.

This presentation will look at how women’s clothing evolved through the 20^th century, from the years of the First World War through the early years of the 1960s and the Kennedy administration. The highly popular television show Downton Abbey illustrates the clothing worn by the aristocracy during the first years of the century. Jacqueline Kennedy reigned over a modern American gentry in a parallel Camelot, inspiring designers even as social forces re-defined fashion inspirations.