Downton Abbey (PBS) Season 1, 2010
Shown: Maggie Smith
oct 4, 2017 – jan 7, 2018
Dressing Downton, Changing Fashion for Changing Times, at the Lightner Museum, is an exquisite exhibition of thirty-six costumes and accessories paired to perfection in engaging vignettes immersed amongst Otto Lightner’s collection of turn of the century fine art and furniture. Many Lightner Museum pieces in storage, and others presently being restored, will be on view for the first time as a part of the exhibition. Dressing Downton will be masterfully displayed in the Lightner’s Grand Ballroom Gallery.
The museum’s collection of Victorian era fine and decorative art is not the only reason it is well suited to exhibit Dressing Downton: Otto Lightner’s collection is housed in the former Alcazar Hotel, built by railroad tycoon Henry Flagler in 1888. The Alcazar Hotel was a playground for the wealthy elite vacationing from the north, and The Alcazar was the place to be seen at the turn of the century. What better backdrop for Dressing Downton than the Alcazar Hotel’s original ballroom overlooking the historic swimming pool area, which now houses the upscale Café Alcazar.
The exhibition Dressing Downton has become a phenomenon in its own right; selling out at many of the museums it has been hosted in. The Lightner Museum will be the exhibition’s final stop, and the only stop in Florida and the southeastern United States.
Online ticket sales begin Sept. 5. Visit lightnermuseum.org/dressing-downton.
Lightner Museum, 75 King Street, St Augustine, (904) 824-2874.
