Downton Abbey Costume Party

Monday evening, the girls and I got together for our first ever costume party. Normally this time of year I attend the Ladies' Night Out costume party at the church I used to attend. This year, however, I had a change of plans as Kendra decided we should have our own costume party and it was a themed party as well. I actually think I may have mentioned it in a previous post. We decided to have a Downton Abbey costume party. The best part of all is that we all managed to keep our mouths shut and not tell the others what character we were going to be. Jackie and I knew who each other was playing because we hit the thrift stores together a while back, but as for everyone else, I had no clue until they arrived at the soiree on Monday.  

The party was at Erika's and it started at 6:00 p.m. I went as the Dowager Countess and my costume was awesome if I do say so myself. It gave me a large laugh and I was so excited about going to the party and showing it off. The dress came from the thrift store for $5. The hat was a find on eBay at $20 and the gloves were also procured from eBay for $6. So, for $31 I had the perfect outfit. The shawl I already had and I borrowed the walking stick from my supervisor at work. Candy thought for sure I would come as Mrs. Padmore or O'Brien, both of whom I love and could have easily pulled off (maybe next year?), but the Dowager Countess was the first choice for me and I did not look back!  
 

Jackie went as Lady Mary. She found her dress, top, and shoes at the thrift store for a total of about $15 and she also bought her gloves off eBay for $6. So, her total amount spent was $21 and she totally looked the part. She tucked her hair in at the back and topped off her look with long pearls. She looked great! Erika pulled off the look of Lady Cora complete with some dazzling jewelry and long gloves and also high heeled boots which looked fabulous.
 

Candy also came as Lady Mary and wore a red dress with a jeweled choker in her hair as a headband. She carried with her a framed picture of her late husband, Matthew Crawley which made us all laugh. Kendra came as Lady Sybil and wore a picture of Branson around her neck. Everyone looked amazing! I guess we all wanted to dress up in fancy clothes because none of us came as maids or the men from the show for that matter. I think we all could have used a Branson because it's not easy driving oneself about while wearing fancy clothes!
 

Erika's neighbor was kind enough to come over and take some photos of us with our cameras and phones so that we could post pictures to Instagram so our friends at home could laugh along with us. We feasted on finger foods which were super delicious and just generally speaking had a great time. It was seriously one of the best ideas for a party and we had a fabulous time together as always.