Waiting for season five? The costumes of 'Downton Abbey' are in Delaware

Whether you fantasize about starting every day with a languid breakfast in bed served alongside the estate’s latest gossip, or you see the world through Mrs. Patmore’s eyes, get thee to Winterthur, where the current crown of our frenzy over the Brits is now on display.

Costumes of Downton Abbey features 40 of the hit show’s “historically inspired costumes,” including the Crawley men’s decorous cricket whites, the Dowager Countess Violet’s lavish gowns, and those scandalous parti-colored harem pants that almost put Carson’s eyes out in season one (though it turned out no one was in a better position to carpe diem than poor Lady Sybil).

Since the British TV drama (set on a fictional Yorkshire estate in the early 1900s) first aired in the UK in 2010 and on America’s PBS in early 2011, it has garnered a record-setting slew of Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA, and Emmy awards, as well as winning Costume Designers Guild Awards every year since 2012.

For the uninitiated (there must be a few of you out there whose hearts don’t already beat to the tinkle of that “bring the tea” bell in the Downton Abbey library), the show follows the insufferable yet irresistible entitlements of the Earl of Grantham and his family, and their stalwart, scheming staff.

As the Edwardian era gives way to World War I and then the Roaring Twenties, the exquisitely costumed episodes offer enough delicately clacking strings of beads to circle the globe. The Winterthur exhibition displays costumes from the nobles as well as liveries and pinafores of the downstairs crew, like the long-suffering lady’s maid Anna Bates (née Smith), and the love-to-hate-‘im underbutler Thomas Barrow.

The Winterthur (that’s “winter-tour”) show features full costumes as well as accessories like the Crawley ladies’ heart-stopping hats. Visitors will also be able to compare the world of Downton to real-life artifacts from the same era across the pond, with objects from the personal collection of Winterthur founder Henry Francis Du Pont and pals. The gift shop (‘scuse me, exhibit store) features such items as a $27 canvas tote bag emblazoned with that immortal line from Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess: “What is a ‘weekend’?” and crystal salt-and-pepper shakers, with a Downton Abbey apron for the downstairs sympathizers.

Costumes of Downton Abbey, featuring garments on loan from Cosprop, is at Winterthur Museum, 5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, DE, through January 4, 2015. A series of lectures, English brunches, and teas will also accompany the show. For more information and to reserve timed tickets in advance, call 800-448-3883 or visit www.winterthur.org/Downtonabbey.