As a Jane Austen scholar, I’m a fan of Regency Era fashion, decor, and architecture. So it should come as no surprise, dear reader, that my favorite part of watching Bridgerton is gawking at the lavish settings and costumes (which includes the hairdos). The team responsible for giving us the Netflix Bridgerton draw on what they have seen in images from the time period, but they jack it up on steroids. I love the colors and patterns they bring to the screen, and this season I am drawn especially to the hair game.
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the first four episodes of season 3 had more balls than the other two seasons. And you know what more balls means? More fashion! Crazy ball hair! Let’s take a look at some of the ‘dos.
Of course, we must start with Penelope and her “glow up.” Within a couple of episodes we see Pen go from this to that.
Apparently Pen’s curly ‘do was not cutting it–too young, too innocent. She had to go for bold waves (and lower necklines) through her new Veronica Lake hairdo. She looks gorgeous, right? I mean, I can see why Colin started to take notice of his wallflower friend who turned into a rose. She got rid of the Featherington citrus color palette in exchange for various shades of green. Green clothes and red hair. Oh how…Irish (the actress is Irish, after all)? Naw. It’s just Penelope’s new color scheme, and its amazing. I’ve always thought the actress Nicola Coughlan is beautiful. Now the show is letting us see how clothes can put a damper on or shine a light on her beauty.
While most people online have been talking about Penelope’s transformation, I’d like to have some fun looking at the Queen’s and Cressida Cowper’s looks. We’ve enjoyed the Queen’s wigs for a couple of seasons, but season 3 gives us a gift with Cressida. The frenemy not only gets more air time beyond the snide comments and stone cold looks, but also shows us how much fun the stylists were having with her head.
Up first: our Queen. If you want to read more about this funtastic character, check out Amanda-Rae Prescott’s article, which connects season 3’s portrayal to the character’s prequel in the Netflix series Queen Charlotte. In this blog post, I’m only focusing on what I’m seeing in season 3.
Let’s start with the swan wig, or what I’m calling the oh-my-god-I-love-it-thank-you-so-much wig!
In case you can’t tell what’s in the wig, Keisha Hatchett describes it as “a white, Fabergé egg-inspired piece complete with an oil painted backdrop and motorized crystal swans nestled inside.” Hatchett goes on to say, “What fans might not have picked up on, though, is the golden cherry tree running up the entire length of the wig from behind, connecting to the branches with sparkling crystals as leaves hanging in front of and just above the actress’ head.” Gotta admit that I didn’t get to take in the entirety of the look when I was watching the episode.
Queen Charlotte has had some awesome wigs over the seasons. Netflix’s Tudum site provides a list of those wigs here “ranked from the shortest to the tallest”! Clearly, the swan wig outdoes all of these. But there are other ‘dos from season 3 that are worthy of our attention:
It’s interesting how the Queen represents a different time than the rest of the characters in the show. She’s not wearing Regency hair or clothes. Her style is Georgian. Her plot is also not bound to historical accuracy either, for in 1815 the Queen’s son would be Prince Regent, and the show as of yet has not paid much attention to any of the Queen’s kids. And that’s OK because we are here for the spectacle and the idea of this powerful matriarch would be drastically undercut by reminding everyone that her husband’s mental health has led to a doofus son leading (supposedly) in his place. So why not have this Queen do 18th-century cosplay?
Now, let’s take a look at Cressida. She’s got this Barbiecore thing going on, even though she is supposed to be a villain. For reference, compare her looks to Eloise’s:
Cressida is the total package this season. She got the awesome hair, the awesome puffy sleeves, and ohmygod a neck corset!
To be honest, the Bridgertons (the family) are boring me this season. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Colin Bridgerton also (supposedly) gets a glow up. Like Penelope’s, his transformation is also about the clothes.
When I first saw him in the brown duster and navy shirt I thought, oh, is he a pirate now? Naw. He’s just been traversing Europe on a mini grand tour that mostly seems to include having sex with girls in every country.
But there’s more to Colin than sexual escapades, right? He’s oh-so-brooding with this open neck and attempt to expose his little chest hairs. He’s often unbuttoned. The state of undress at first represents this I’m-too-cool-for-the-ton, but as the first 4 episodes reveal, he’s an emo boy who is caught between being the bad boy persona and the good-at-heart third brother we’ve known for two seasons.
You might think his rakish style can only be expressed through his clothes, right? Incorrect answer, as my niblings would say. Colin’s change also comes through his hair. Look at his transformation:
Bridgerton‘s hair and makeup stylist, Erika Ökvist, talks about Pen’s and Colin’s glow ups in this Slate article. About Pen, Ökvist says:
What we’ve got to remember is that all of these characters started off in Season 1 being quite young, so we got a natural glow-up that happens with these actors. Like with Penelope in Season 1, everything was round and enhanced, and obviously her chest was put away. Then in Season 2, she tried to explore who she was, and sometimes it was successful and sometimes it wasn’t. Now, she clearly has grown up. She’s a woman of her own right. She knows she’s not going to marry Colin, and she decides that she doesn’t want to be under her mother’s thumb anymore. So, she puts on what I would call a “war look.” She’s literally going in to seduce somebody. I think that the glow-up is prompted by the story and how the character needs to develop. It is definitely a glow-up, but it’s something that is totally character- and story-driven.
For Colin, the stylist notes:
In Season 1 it was very round hair, and hiding away his square hairline. In Season 2, for instance, he was wearing a lot of frills under his chin, which will take away his chiseled jawline. Now he’s quite open-necked, so we’ll see the chiseled jawline. Also, we styled the hair differently so you can see that he’s got a square hairline. Every single facial feature that was very masculine, we enhanced in this season. But also, we have to remember that these actors are maturing, themselves. He basically went from teenager or young man to man himself, as well. He came with a lot of these attributes. It usually happens later for men—I think they’re usually 23, 24, 25 when that happens—whereas young women get the woman look in their teens or early 20s. I think that that’s why it’s so obviously blatant that it happened to Luke.
No wonder we were all looking at the hair this season–it is the star of the season 3.
But I’m not the first or only person to write about this season’s fashion. It’s captivated people within and beyond the fandom. In Style has a ‘Behind the Seams’ series exploring this season’s fashions. It’s a fantastic overview of what led to this season’s looks, too. Apparently “behind the seams” is the official lingo because Vulture‘s account of Pen’s “glow up” also uses the phrase. IndieWire discusses Bridgerton‘s “cool approach to period costumes.”
Then there are these articles which help fans wear their own Bridgerton style. Refinery29 encourages its readers to “wear these summer 2024 trends If you’re a Bridgerton fan.” Shutterstock even got in on the Bridgerton “of-the-moment, on-trend imagery.”
This all leads us to the thing that is “Regencycore.” You might have heard of “Cottagecore” before; well, now you have Regencycore (actually, it’s been around but Bridgerton gave us a reason to jump on the bandwagon).
Check out Stitch Fix’s suggestions. You might be surprised to find jeans in the mix. Remember: they’re not telling you to dress like some nobleperson from 1815 but to be inspired by those pastel colors and flower patterns, light airy fabrics, pop sleeves, etc. Here’s a look I like from the site:
Here are a few cool looks from Refinery29:
These sites don’t just focus on the clothes, luckily. They also show what kinds of Regencycore shoes, necklaces, earrings, and reticules–purses–you can wear.
Here’s one I could never afford, but you get the idea. The style of purse is like a Regency Era drawstring wristlet (aka a reticule).
I guess it’s time to go shopping! Where’s my credit card??
As we await the last four episodes of the season, we’ll have to tide ourselves over with the fashion from this season. I look forward to watching part 2 of season 3–and I mean watching literally. I want to see what everyone’s wearing. 🙂
How about you? What is your favorite part of the first part of season 3?
Misty Krueger 
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