'Michelle Dockery has the perfect figure,' says Anna Karenina costume designer Jacqueline Durran

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In Downton Abbey, Michelle Dockery cuts the perfect shape in 1920s straight styles and drop waists, but when she embarked on a role away from the series in the latest film adaptation of Anna Karenina it was a different style story.

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The film, which stars Keira Knightley in the lead role, is set in the 1870s and sees Michelle take on the role of Princess Myagkaya, this time clad in corsets and full skirts. To find out how the transition from Downton to Russia came about through costume, Marie Claire spoke with costume designer Jacqueline Durran, whose most recent triumph was winning a BAFTA for her work on the film.

Jacqueline said: ‘Michelle Dockery was great to work with, she’s so elegant and that’s ideal for the part she was playing and for the style of the dress she was wearing.

‘If you’re aiming for a fashion/beauty look then Michelle has got the perfect figure. She was involved in the high society part of the film wearing fashion to match and she was perfect for it.’

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When asked what cuts it as the perfect figure for costume drama Jacqueline was quick to dispel any myths adding: ‘There’s no such thing as the perfect figure to dress. It depends what you’re trying to achieve.

‘Costume is about telling stories and stories have all different kinds of characters. Someone with a really flat stomach could be the perfect person to play person with a big stomach and we can have fun dressing them up.’

Anna Karenina is out on Blu-ray and DVD now. The Anna Karenina Costume Exhibition at Ham House is open until 4 April. Find out more at nationaltrust.co.uk

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