Review: Mr. Selfridge -- Series 2 (2014)

When I watched Mr. Selfridge a year ago, I was not all that fond of it. I said that I was going to watch the next series because Series 1 ended on a cliffhanger and I wanted to know what happened next, but I didn't have high hopes for it. It was a lackluster show in which I could relate to none of the characters and where nearly all the characters had loose morals. But when this year came and I didn't hear any word on the new series, I was wondering if it was still going? But then PBS announced it and after Downton Abbey ran its course (which I still watched even though I had already seen it), I watched Series 2 of Mr. Selfridge as it aired on PBS. Were my suspicions correct? Or was I pleasantly surprised? Well, read on and find out!

Note: This review will contain spoilers from Series 1. If you do not want to read about Series 1 spoilers, I suggest watching Series 1 before reading this review. Here is my review for Series 1 if you are interested.

Synopsis

DVD Box Art

After living in America for five years after leaving England, Rose Selfridge returns to London for the fifth anniversary of Selfridge's. While Harry tries to reconcile with his wife, Rose still resents his philandering and keeps her distance from him. Meanwhile, Rose has befriended Delphine Day, the owner of a night club with a scandalous past (of which she writes about publicly). Meanwhile, Agnes Towler returns to Selfridge's as head of departmental displays after training in Paris and develops a rivalry with Mr. Thackeray, the new head of fashion. Lady Mae Loxley's life is turned upside down with the arrival of her husband, Lord Loxley, who has taken a sudden interest in parliament. All of this is occurring with World War I in the near future, and Selfridge's sees the toll of the war on the store.

1910s/Downton Abbey Outfit -- Part 2: The Outer Wear

Continuing from Part 1 of my sewing project, I'll go onto the outer garments of this outfit.

 So, this was the outfit that I was trying to recreate. I wanted to make the hat so badly, but when I attempted it, it didn't turn out well at all. I think I need to practice more millinery in order to make a hat like that...

(On a side note, if I wanted to wear this outfit out and needed a hat, I am able to take my winter hat, fold up the brim at the side, and put some millinery veiling around it to get the same effect.)

1910s/Downton Abbey Outfit -- Part 1: The Undergarments

Remember when I mentioned that I was working on a big sewing project in my March Tag of the Period Drama Challenge? Well, I'm finally posting pictures of it!

So, to take a break from the classes that are going towards my degree (I'm majoring in both Computer Science and Accounting), I decided to take an apparel class: a history of dress class, to be precise. It was a really fun class; I got to learn more about the historical eras I'm interested in, I got to work with conserving a 1910s dress, and I never had so much fun reading a text book before. For my final project (which I presented a couple of weeks ago), I opted to sew a outfit from Downton Abbey (provided that I proved that it was accurate); and since my professor is a fan of Downton Abbey, she was interested in seeing what I came up with.