Bridgerton Costume Review

[Music] bridgerton a fun and frothy frock flick is a new netflix period drama based upon the regency romance book series by american author julia quinn the show was created by chris van dusen with executive producer shonda rhimes all eight episodes from season one first aired on netflix on december 25th 2020. back in 2017 rimes signed a 100 million dollar overall deal with netflix according to tv line netflix reported that bergerton is the fifth largest season premiere for an original series and as of this recording it looks like season two is likely to be announced any day now the costumes a veritable cornucopia of confectionary delight were designed by multiple costume designers guild award winner ellen mirajnik whose career began in the late 70s with a solid portfolio of contemporary hits like basic instinct and fatal attraction just to name a few along with some of my personal favorites strange days starship troopers and the chronicles of riddick more recently ellen murajnik has received accolades for hbo's behind the candelabra for which she won an emmy award the greatest showman and maleficent mistress of evil she has other projects on the horizon including an updated cinderella and while she is 71 years young it appears that mirage nick has no intention of slowing down i know that you're here to learn more about the bridgeton costumes but before we get into that warning there are spoilers for all eight episodes of season one of bergerton and while i love reading your comments because many of my viewers have only seen the show please avoid writing any book spoilers in the chat thank you with five months of prep a staggering number of costumes were created for the series by a team of 238 people none of the costumes in the series were rented or purchased which is more typical with historical costume series in all close to 7 500 pieces of wardrobe were created enough to fill an entire costume warehouse [Music] that amounts to approximately 5 000 bespoke costumes now if i can put on my lady whistle down's hooded cloak for a moment i would love to know what the budget for the costumes are but that number is likely under lock and key anywho what this all says to me is that netflix has committed to at least a three season run while the costumes themselves are bespoke many of the tiaras were supplied by austrian crystal and jewelry maker swarovski from their archives although the wardrobe team took it a step further and embellished the pieces with added crystals and from the look of these jewelry pieces it appears that many of them were purchased as well because of her vast knowledge and expertise costume designer ellen mirage nick was originally brought to consult on how to bring to life such a mammoth wardrobe design but when they inevitably asked her to stay on she stated that she was up to the challenge mirage nick describes the costume design for bridgeton that while set in 1813 london it is mixed with modern elements or regency with a twist with this mirage next says the look is more luxurious and sumptuous with a modern color palette but still with the basic foundation of the 1813 silhouette the formula can be broken down as real plus high fashion equals shonda named after the show's producer mirage nick told the cut in an interview that the single artist that was the inspiration for bridgeton was an irish painter named jenev figgis she said that i looked at her paintings and they just knocked me out mirage nick tells vogue that she also took color and fabric inspiration from the christian dior designer of dreams exhibition at the v a in london and i feel before i proceed any further i have to address the elephant in the room with any show especially a show as hot as bridgeton right now the question that will be asked is is this show historically accurate as many of you know i'm not a historian although i love historical costumes my background is actually in costume and costume design and this is what typically informs me when i analyze a show therefore i think the more important question should be not is it historically accurate but is it good design but how do we know if the design is good or not this question comes up time and time again in so many shows and movies that i've analyzed and my usual answer and i'm saying this is a rather broad statement is does it serve the story and characters and check all the boxes needed for a cohesive design the most basic answer of course is yes so for instance does it tell you something about the setting time of year and location yes does it show you the economic status of the characters yes does it tell us anything about the specific characters absolutely but more importantly does it offer up some needed distraction and entertain us following what was one of the worst years in many of our lifetimes indeed it does but also are there some anachronisms that occasionally pull us out of the story that happens too and i will get to that in a bit a place that is always a great place to start is with the silhouette so despite the color palettes and the choices of fabrics and trims there is indeed a cohesive silhouette that carries throughout the show bridgeton takes place during the 1813 london social scene and during this time with the exception of a few characters the women dress in the neoclassical columnar silhouette and the men in waist coats tail coats front flap pants scoop neck shirts that are finished off with cravats as to the color i kind of looked at the whole thing as an alternative reality everything was heightened the colors are that much bolder the pattern's that much larger the lace and trim again a boatload of swarovski crystals that much more over the top this also creates some contrast between the two families the bridgetons and the feathering tints the bridger tins are like old money very subdued and a muted color palette of blues greens silvers and whites while the feathering tins are like new money dress like peacocks in super bowl shades and colors dating myself a bit here it's sort of like a battle between ted knight vs rodney dangerfield in caddyshack i also kind of looked at the featherington's loud prince as inspired from the cinderella story of the wicked stepmother and stepsisters ellen mirage nick said in an interview that the bridgetons are the bees while the feathering tins are the butterflies perhaps a metaphor for social butterflies let me know what you think in the comments and then the bridgeton's sons dress in cooler tones often in shades of blue but you do see anthony as he dons this gorgeous deep purple as well i also thought that they did a good job on each of the characters the female protagonist in the story daphne bridgeton whose play by phoebe deniver is the most elegant of all the daughters she loves all the pretty frocks she wore so many in the show something like 104 dresses in total according to the production but i have to be honest here after a while all of those plain blue ones just started to look like one another later on however as daphne's story arcs her colors become duskier as explained by mirage nick she tells vogue that daphne's palette does change as time goes on saying the pinks and blues are richer and the silvers deepen as she grows and matures the standout one of course was her gold embroidered ivory silk debutant gown with the train the gown is likely all the more dramatic because of the scooped neckline mirage nick tells vogue this show is sexy fun and far more accessible than your average restrained period drama and it's important for the openness of the neckline to reflect that when you go into a close-up there's so much skin it exudes beauty in direct contrast to the two families the duke of hastings simon bassett often favors darker colors and a lot of black i guess this might suggest his reputation as a rake or it could be an indication of his ongoing inner turmoil or both but more simply it might just be because actor reggae jean-page looks great in this palette from what i can tell he is the only character to wear a black shirt so it also makes him stand out his mentor lady danbury is often dressed in jewel tone colors especially purples you do see simon in the occasional jewel tone which i think is influenced by his association with lady danbury as far as the british monarchy is concerned there is quite a bit of artistic license taken there especially with the queen and her ladies in waiting dressed in an 18th century silhouette well into the 1800s this gown in herman cape for instance appeared to be inspired by this portrait of queen charlotte the real-life queen consort to king george iii queen charlotte actor golda rochevale explains that intentionally the queen has no continuity in her costumes reflecting a kind of gaudiness about the society i will have to disagree with ellen mirajnik when she says that the real queen charlotte was known for never changing her silhouette for when she became queen in the 18th century there are many portraits of queen charlotte later in her life that showed that she did indeed alter her silhouette in fact these two mesonet pictures of her daughter's weddings show that she was on trend for the time and likely set the tone for the court if you made it this far it's time for me to point out some additional anachronisms in bridgerton next to queen charlotte it was one of the first things that i noticed and maybe you noticed it too that lady featherington has her own unique silhouette in fact she rarely strays from it she always wears a bodice with a slightly lower waistline that includes a built-in waistband a sweetheart neckline and three quarter length fitted sleeves and the skirt is body skimming it definitely isn't of the era and doesn't really fit in either before or after 1813 so what i suspect is that this was inspired by the 1950s or 60s perhaps also christian dior speaking of the 60s this sleeveless dress worn by the featherington's distant cousin marina thompson in combination with the hair looks like something out of that era and while there were hats of plenty for the men i was actually happy to see so many we rarely see a bonnet on any of the women because apparently dops hate them actually they hate hats in general mirage nick explains though there were no bonnets but we do nod to them with our hair accessories now for me it didn't really take away from the story which is a good thing but at the same time i find the lack of hats is often a missed opportunity to do something fabulous so you can check out hbo's gentleman jack if you want to see what i mean speaking of a lack of hats one thing that did pull me out of the story often were the banks now i can overlook so many things but i'm not even sure why they continue to do this especially when they are in the same scene with a character that is clearly wigged fit-wise there were a few issues nothing too egregious but one of my viewers pointed this out to me and i did notice it as well on many of penelope featherington's dresses the bodice is cut too short so it should sit under the bust line and not in the middle of it like we see here this orange dress is especially problematic but these are all just small grievances but one thing that absolutely drove me bonkers because it's become a trope and we tend to see it in almost all historical dramas was the lack of shift seen under the stays in case you don't know why this is important as an item of clothing worn against the skin shifts protect from chafing which can result in marks on the body the shift also absorbs the sweat and oils from the body and since it has changed after every wear it protects the stays from a buildup of dirt and grime you wouldn't wear the same bra every day now would you without washing it so it was so weird because the stays themselves were actually pretty accurate all of them were made by corset maker mr pearl and they were also tight laced which wasn't really the fashion during this time but also this must have been awful for the cast to have to endure wearing them day in and out unless i am unaware that they might have been wearing some kind of tank top or other foundation garment underneath but other than that i was pretty happy with the look as a whole i also don't think that the show takes itself too seriously so we probably shouldn't either it is after all based upon a regency romance novel and while i know that anthony bridger tin is the next character to find love in season two based upon the book the vi count who loved me i would personally enjoy seeing one of the featherington daughters find their prince charming in one of the future seasons at any rate i am looking forward to seeing season two let me know in the comments what you thought of the bridgeton costumes as always thank you for spending time with me i'll see you in the next video

Channel: Costume CO

Views: 4,419

Rating: 4.9170122 out of 5

Keywords: Bridgerton Costume Review, Bridgerton Costume, Bridgerton Costumes, The Bridgerton's Costumes, The Featherington's Costumes, Daphne Bridgerton's Costumes, The Duke Of Hasting's Costumes, Simon Basset's Costumes, Queen Charlotte's Costumes, Lady Danbury's Costumes, Anthony Bridgerton's Costumes, ellen mirojnick, regency dress, regency clothing, regency corset, regency costume drama, regency costume

Id: PlaXCJoMfy4

Length: 14min 29sec (869 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 11 2021