Forget the romance; the best part of Bridgerton is the fashion. We have costume designer John Glaser, hair and makeup artist Erika Ökvist, and their incredible teams to thank for all of the amazing Season 3 looks!

Here are 31 behind-the-scenes facts about the Bridgerton Season 3 costumes and beauty looks:

1.The Season 3 costumes are less historically accurate than they were in Seasons 1 and 2 because production wanted to lean into a more “heightened” rom-com tone.

Showrunner Jess Brownell told BuzzFeed, “[Costume designer John Glaser] wanted to raise the bar. We didn’t push back much on what he wanted to do because this is the most rom-com season we’ve ever had. Everything in a rom-com is a little bit heightened. The tone this year is a little bit more comedic. So it felt acceptable this season to push the boundaries more than usual on historical accuracy and just lean into the fun.”

2.Each character’s costume mood board begins with three key elements: a historical fashion reference, a modern fashion reference from 1950 onwards, and a work of art.

3.Compared to previous seasons, the costume designers intentionally made their designs and color choices softer “because of the story [they’re] telling.”

4.Penelope’s makeover is modeled after Old Hollywood movie stars like Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth.

For example, with her dresses, they “actually veered off from 1813 and went a little into the future to 1820” because dresses from 1820 were shaped more like 1950s evening gowns.

5.The first dress she wears after her big makeover has teal and copper inner layers to match her hair color. The wardrobe team also chose this gown because they “didn’t want to give up her connection to the Featherington colors right away.”

6.The emerald dress was inspired by Parisian fashions of the time period, which is exactly what Penelope requested at the modiste.

7.After that dress, Penelope wears a softer, more neutral color palette so that her gowns don’t give away the direction of her story.

8.Her dresses have a new silhouette because the costume designer’s “mission was to showcase her body, instead of trying to hide it with the regency line.”

9.Many of her outfits are layered so that it’s hard to tell what color they actually are, which was intentional.

10.The pale green dress she wears during that carriage scene “was designed and made out of fabric that was reflective for night, to be magical and spectacular in that moment.”

11.Penelope’s eye gems in Episode 3 are a nod to her creativity.

12.Colin’s new style was inspired by the Marlboro Man.

John told Vogue, “We’re not supposed to talk about smoking, but that guy’s on a horse in the dust and dirt. He’s a bit sweaty, and he has a lot of swagger. We gave Colin these long coats; there’s this great movement when he walks. His look is semi-period-correct — we actually used denim for his trousers, and we gave him a belt, open shirts, and some pieces which wouldn’t have existed in that period, so he feels of this time but also quite modern.”

13.He wears a darker color palette to signal his new “maturity,” “swagger,” and “confidence.”

14.Speaking to BuzzFeed, Nicola Coughlan asked Luke Newton if he “ever accidentally [went] home wearing Colin’s underwear.” He replied, “No, because I had Regency pairs that I would wear, they were slightly different to my everyday pants.”

15.To create Queen Charlotte’s swan wig, Erika 3D-printed a clockwork, added glass swans, and had a makeup artist from her team paint a backdrop.

16.For Erika, the most challenging part of creating Queen Charlotte’s swan wig was “to make it quiet enough for the sound man not to want to kill [her].”

She told ScreenRant, “Finally, we had this ballet ,and then I was thinking, ‘Well, what would be great for the ballet?’ She’s got moving pieces within her wig, so we printed this clockwork platform and got some motors so that I’ve got some swans swimming around this kind of Faberge egg-shaped wig.”

17.Eloise Bridgerton wears a “summer muff” to hide the cast that actor Claudia Jeffries had to get after breaking her arm on set. On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, she said, “I’m an idiot. It’s my own fault.”

Here’s a closer look at Eloise’s summer muff:

18.Eloise’s Episode 2 look is a reference to Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.

Eloise in a long gown with intricate sparkly beaded design

19.Though this season is set in 1813, Alice Mondrich’s style was pushed forward to 1820 (the end of the Regency era) to set her apart from the other characters and to reflect her newfound confidence.

20.Instead of “historically accurate” wigs, characters with textured hair wear wigs with textured hair to stay true to the show’s prioritization of diverse beauty.

Erika told Fashionista, “I think that if you are not embracing everybody’s hair texture and everybody’s skin color, you cannot call yourself a makeup artist or a makeup designer. All we need to do is just honor what nature has provided and make it as beautiful as possible. That’s how I look at it. I can’t really think about it in any other way.”

21.Adjoa Andoh’s Lady Agatha Danbury wig takes three hours to put on.

She told BuzzFeed, “So I’m in hair and makeup for three hours before I even start my day. So, for me, it’s the length of the day.”

22.This season, Hannah Dodd took over the role of Francesca Bridgerton. John “didn’t want to try to make her look like the previous actress, so [the wardrobe department] gave her a new look.”

In Season 1, Ruby Stokes as Francesca in a lacy empire waist dress

in Season 3, Hannah Dodd as Francesa in an empire waist dress with metallic details and long train

He told ScreenRant, “We based her on Katherine Hepburn in the 1940s. If you look at the sheer blouses that she wears, that look is youthful, but it’s tasteful and not that restrictive Regency look. Her clothes are translucent because she is a mystery. She’s going to be a mystery to the audience, and she’s a little mysterious in the actual show because she is essentially a new character.”

23.This season, Kate Bridgerton’s outfits have more “blatant” nods to her Indian heritage than they did in Season 2.

Kate in a period dress scene from Bridgerton, wearing an empire waist gown with cap sleeves and gloves, an updo hairstyle, and floral hair accessory. Background extras included

Kate in a long-sleeved gown with intricate embroidery and a floral headpiece
John told Vogue, “Her sleeves and the cut of her dresses are much more influenced by saris in the way they flow at the back, and the colors — we went for earth tones, more natural colors, the colors of spice. And in the second half of the season, she becomes even more obviously influenced by Indian fashion.”

24.Anthony Bridgerton’s outfits also have a subtle nod to his wife’s culture — Indian embroidery.

25.Cressida’s extravagant outfits represent the “huge armor” she puts up to hide her vulnerability.

26.A “beautiful blue dress” that Hyacinth Bridgerton wears was made from “a cut off from Princess Diana’s dress that she wore at some point.”

Actor Florence Hunt told People, “I just thought it was amazing. I felt like I was wearing a piece of history.”

She also said it was her favorite look, and she was allowed to keep a piece of the fabric.

27.While researching Regency fashions, John Glaser learned that a Parisian silk shortage led to women wetting their linen dresses to give them a silky look. Since pouring water on the actors would be impractical, he used layers of sheer fabric to get a similar look.

28.The women’s shoes aren’t at all historically accurate. They’re modern shoes from Ferragamo.

29.Most of the jewelry the cast wears is from 1890-1965.

30.All of the beauty looks are “based on historical knowledge,” but they’re blended with editorial or catwalk looks to “make it more palatable for the modernized and because of how extreme everything is.”

Erika told Fashionista, “I think that I probably have got every single picture that there is with anything Regency, and I probably also got every single book that there is as well.”

31.And finally, altogether, this season’s costumes are meant to look like a flower garden.