the remains of the...summer?


Ah, my vacation has ended and with it the summer it seems.  I mean, not really, since it will be hot and sunny for almost another month.  But since we spend so many of our formative years returning to school and books and plaid skirts in September (seriously, has there ever been an autumn that plaid wasn't 'in'?) that's just how it feels. 

Dyrham Park
So, back at home and feeling vaguely lost and melancholy, I am watching The Remains of the Day for the first time in almost 20 years.  I read the book finally this spring- I'd been working my way through Kazuo Ishiguro's incredible novels for awhile now but wasn't sure if the book might be too close to the movie, which didn't quite work for me as a young lady.  I think at the time the stilted relationship between Emma and Sir Tony onscreen was too similar to their characters in Howard's End from the previous year. Now it resonates absolutely- the quiet unspoken feelings, tensions and sense of loss that permeate a brilliant novel.  The movie is a faithful enactment of these moments.   In fact, I have to give the movie props for its absolute restraint, to the point that I can't even find any 'costume porn' to distract from the story and place (there's lots of old-school setting and servitude  specifics though! Oh yeah. From the minutiae of measuring between place settings to the requisite glory of a hunting party gathered outdoors.)  




Design Sponge


I totally want a Remains of the Day lunchbox now- do you suppose it comes with a matching ROTD thermos within?
Um, likely the whole thing is soon to be repackaged as "Carson's Diary"  or something in order to cash in on Downton mania...  In fact, there are wholesale scenes that lifted directly from Remains of the Day! However there is still something charming about the corny soapy melodrama that is Downton, and the costumes are certainly killer!
I love how costume fans are able to trace the re-use of costume elements through the years. article
So while we're looking back at happy golden days, when a beach is but a few moments away, and summer breezes waft through light cotton dresses, here's a lovely green thing that I finally got around to tailoring on my break. sigh.


Ah idyllic island, I shall miss you!

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