Downton Abbey Ladies Switch With Maids

Harper's Bazaar strikes with a lady-to-maid photo shoot with Downton Abbey cast.  The show itself did play a little bit with the lady disguised as a maid trope so no wonder. 

At a stuccoed country house location in the middle of West London, the world of Downton Abbey is being turned upside down. “Oh, I could get used to this,” says Sophie McShera, a.k.a. kitchen maid turned cook Daisy Mason, as she lounges on a velvet sofa in pink organza Dolce & Gabbana, while a toned-down Elizabeth McGovern, a.k.a. Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, serves tea. “I’m usually carrying trays and wearing a gray sack!”

Next door, in another ornately appointed room, Michelle Dockery, a.k.a. Lady Mary Crawley, has stepped into the shoes of her trusted lady’s maid, Anna Bates, while Joanne Froggatt, the actress who plays her, ponders which designer shoes to wear. “After so many years of playing Lady Mary, it was fun to switch roles and play a maid for Bazaar,” says Dockery. “Anna waited on Lady Mary so faithfully over the years—dressing her, mending her clothes, and brushing her hair. It was nice to be able to wait on Jo for a change.”

Sadly it's a bit bland and the maids are dressed in designer dresses and there is little of it. Could have been a lot more fun if they went further with the idea - there are so many options! I know I would have had a blast if it was me doing the photoshoot. Still worth a look, our imagination will do the rest.

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Elle Vietnam April 2018: Diary of a Chambermaid

Well, this model-and-maid-at-a-posh-hotel fashion shoot has been done to death, but they still can't seem to get enough of it. This time it's the latest Elle Vietnam, following in the footsteps of Louis Vuitton, Vogue Korea and many others over the last years.  All the usual elements are there: an arrogant mistress or hotel guest who pays the help no attention, an out-of-focus maid hovering in the background, ridiculous haute couture outfits, unnatural poses and stares. There is clearly something in this lady-and-maid scenario that keeps attracting fashion photographers! 

What I found particularly interesting is that the "mistress" gets a billing (Russian model Anastasia Chekry), while the "maid" does not - at least I could't find her name mentioned. That's probably quite humbling if you are an aspiring model yourself...

More Maid Photo Editorials: Hotel 2007

Like with many other maid fashion editorials posted here, I've been seeing individual photos from this one for years before realising they were part of a bigger set. This one is from Russian photographer Sergey Kaptilkin and you can see the entire thing on his website. I'm only reposting several maid-themed photos from this large and, admittedly, rather bizarre black-and-white set from 2007. Still, the way it's done is quite interesting and lady-to-maid overtones are as strong as ever.

Elle Mistress-And-Maid Photo Shoot From The 1980s

This one has been sitting on my hard drive for many years. I believe it is from Elle magazine in the early-to-mid 1980s, but I was unable to locate the exact issue so if anyone knows please let me know. I only have five photos from probably bigger the set. The uniforms are quite unusual, but I still think it's worth adding to my collection if only to make it complete.

A Lonely Maid in Louis Vuitton's Fall/Winter 2013 Campaign

Louis Vuitton is, of course, no stranger to maids. As a matter of fact, one of the first blog posts I made here back in early 2014 was about them dressing up their models in very traditional and stylish servant uniforms. This promotional campaign from the same period somehow escaped my attention back then so I am only posting it now.

I love how the maid is "invisible", walking between gorgeous dressed-up models as if she's not even there, going about her duties. Always in the background, wearing a plain uniform and no make up, her hair cut short. The young women pay her no atteniton whatsoever. 

What the models gathered around the room waiting for their fashion shoot to start did not realise was that the woman in a pale uniform, a cap and a white apron, used to be just like them. It wasn't too long ago that she, too, strutted the runway in impossibly high stilettos, wore ridiculously expensive and impractical designer outfits and had that expression of arrogant indifference permanently glued to her flawless face. Those days  - and her once remarkable looks - were a distant memory, as she was now reduced to nothing more than a simple servant, who, out of pity, was kept around the set to take care of the new stars' every need - not to mention making sure that the room was spotless clean just in time for the shoot. 

Needless to say, once the cameras started rolling, she was asked to move out of the picture as to not obscure the view. The world of high fashion wasn't her world anymore. She was allowed to stand in the corner and watch though; she remained there quietly, holding back tears, as the younger beauties took the spotlight.

Olivia Holt in Generous: A Lady to Maid?

I've come across a new music video by Olivia Holt called Generous. Lyrics, as one would expect from an aspiring 19-year-old American pop singer, feature gems like "gonna give you that uhm" and "just want you on me/hey, say that you want me", but it's rarely that a music video comes along that features a traditional maid uniform so I couldn't help but share it with you. The plot is clearly inspired by that romantic hideousness known as Maid in Manhattan, but to an avid lady-to-maid fan it can also easily be interpreted as a rich socialite playing dress up as a maid. I've attached a few screen grabs under the youtube video. 

Glamour Old School: Vogue Brazil May 2013

I must be running out of maid-related fashion editorials by now, but here is another one from Brazil for your enjoyment. It's pretty thin on the maid stuff, but what's there is quite good. Barely hidden racial overtones with a beautiful blonde mistress in glamorous outfits served by plain dark-skinned uniformed maids? Check. Luxury living and exquisite outfits in a hotel environment as poor maids look on? Check. Need I ask for more? 

The Diamond Heiress: Playboy May 2013

A magazine spread featuring Tamara Ecclestone and her adoring maids. Another one from a few years back for my lady-and-maid collection! 

Comme Deauville: "Rags to Riches" Fashion Editoral in Jalouse October 2010

The point of this "modern day Cinderella" editorial (other that getting model Ashley Smith into a maid's uniform) escapes me, but here it is anyway. As you know, I just can't get enough of lady-and-maid fashion editorials.

More Lady And Maid Fashion Shoots: Forbidden Fruit

Another fashion shoot I've stumbled upon in my neverending quest for ladies-and-maids pictures. It's called "Forbidden Fruit"  and it is meant both literally and figuratively. Very nicely done!

Room #506: Velvet Italia April 2011

Another one of those "model acts all imperious in the presence of her maid" lengthy fashion editorials, this time from Velvet Italia back in 2011. If there is something fashion photographers like more than maids, it's hotel rooms. This one is legendary Negresco in Nice.

Who Killed Amazoula: A Maid in Louboutins

A very pretty maid in a traditional black and white uniform and an exceedingly impractical pair of high heels is a witness to the crime in this stylish 2016 Christian Louboutin video ad campaign. If only all hotel maids looked liked that! Unless the maid being interrogated is actually not a servant at all, but a lady in disguise with only her expensive shoes giving away her real station in life. Wondering if the detective noticed that little detail. Think of all the lady-to-maid possibilities...

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Mistress, Maid and Butler: Playboy Brazil August 2012

I am not a huge fan of Playboy style, but this one is actually surprisingly good. So good a couple of years ago I used a photograph from this shoot (again, without knowing what it was part of) to illustrate a story. Brazilian actress Nathalia Rodrigues is acting all strange in the presence of imperturbable hired help. Love the maid's old-style uniform!

Luxury Fetishist: Vogue Brazil December 2005

Another fashion editorial featuring a maid for your viewing enjoyment. And once again a picture (No. 6) I've seen a hundred times without realising where it came from. Inevstigating popular maid photos using online tools has become a bit of a recent hobby of mine so please bear with me as I now have a few more editorials up my sleeve! What is it about fashion photographers and maids, I wonder?

Model Izabel Goulart for Vogue Brazil back in 2005 in appropriately titled Luxo Fetichista.

A Wardrobe of an Heiress: Vogue Italia September 1991

I haven't done a post about maids in fashion editorials for a while now so here's a classic one. If you've been tracking maid photos online like me I am sure you've seen the top image many times. However, it wasn't recently that I was able to identify the photoshoot it was made for and locate the entire thing. Here's for your viewing enjoyment - Carre Otis, wearing all Versace like an early 1990s supermodel should, in "Un Guardaroba da Ereditiera" (Vogue Italia, September 1991). As frequently with such editorials, my only wish is that maids were given a more prominent role!

In Service: Julia Fullerton-Batten

Here is another maid-related photo shoot to add to my growing collection. This one is exquisitely done and my only complaint is that not every picture featured a maid! The photographer, Julia Fullerton-Batten, quite unusually, also provided a detailed "artist statement", which, among other things, says the following:

“In Service” concentrates on amoral episodes that took place in some of the stately homes of Britain during the Edwardian era. I was fortunate to find three stately homes in the south of England that provided eminently suitable backdrops for shooting the series. Built in the 18th Century their interior decorations closely resemble those found in grand houses in the Edwardian era. I dressed the servants in authentic Edwardian era style clothing. To heighten the class difference I went for a contrast in fashion styles and dressed some of the female employers in clothing designed by Alexander McQueen and Chanel.

Young Woman and Her Maids

Tetora pointed me to an excellent photo shoot on Getty Images that I thought I'd share with you as well. I am a big fan of maid-inspired fashion shoots and posted a few of them in this blog over the years, so here is another one for your enjoyment. It almost looks like an illustration to a lady-to-maid story. Sorry I cannot remove watermarks, but they are not in any way obtrusive.

Waiting for Love: Vitchi Fashion Shoot

I hope I didn't bore you to death with my obsession with maid-inspired fashion editorials, but here is yet another one. You have to envy fashion photographers - there are not that many occupations where, if you are lucky, you are paid good money for acting out your fetishes.