So, Lady Mary wore this to a Salute To Audrey Hepburn that happened over the weekend, and while I honestly think she just felt like sporting a Lady Tux to this one, before I landed on that wholly reasonable explanation, I spent twenty minutes racking my brain to figure out which iconic Hepburn outfit this was referencing. Not Holly Golightly; not Eliza Doolittle at Ascot; not your classic black turtleneck and cigarette pants. And then I realized: Perhaps she’s play-acting Henry Higgins at the ball, and this is all a coded shout-out to her Downton co-star Harry Hadden-Paton, who is currently playing that part on Broadway (when he’s not filming the new Downton movie, which….does Bertie have a Time-Turner? How is he managing that?). Sure, that’s needlessly complicated, but let’s get real: It’s also very jaunty.
