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The hit show “Bridgerton” is lauded for its adventurous hair and costume design. However, these details go too far in season three, harming the progress the show creates through its diverse casting within the period drama genre.
From its conception, “Bridgerton” aimed to be “Regency with a twist,” according to Phoebe Dynevor, who played the first season’s leading debutante, Daphne Bridgerton. Each season of the show follows one of the illustrious Bridgerton family’s multiple children as they navigate the marriage market, with many schemes and side romances appearing as subplots along with the leading couple of that respective season. The edge? “Bridgerton” also featured vibrant costumes, fantastical wigs, and a racially diverse cast such that people of color are as much a part of the nobility as their white counterparts — a stark difference from the historical reality of the time.
The show’s costuming and makeup retained — for the most part — its regency style inspiration through its minimal makeup and high bustlines for most women in the show. That is, until season three.
The third season of “Bridgerton” featured tulle attachments to satin dresses, sparkly Payless-looking shoes, fake eyelashes, acrylics, red lips, and 1920s waves. Simply put, the style in the season veers quite far from that of the Regency era, taking away from the magic of a make-believe past. To audiences, it is painfully obvious that the season was filmed in 2023. While the appearance and demeanor of some actors have also been deemed unbelievable in the show’s time period — a common critique in modern television — it is the costume, hair, and makeup that make the past look so modern in “Bridgerton.”
Though a show appearing to be made in the century it was actually filmed in does not seem troublesome at first glance, in the world of period dramas it proves harmful. Successful period dramas like Joe Wright’s “Pride and Prejudice” and “Atonement” masterfully hold the audience in suspended disbelief. Despite time period inaccuracies in “Pride and Prejudice” related to costume and hair, the film seems to epitomize Regency era life and activity. While imperfect, the gap between reality and the imagined style of the era is imperceptible to most viewers’ eyes, and only a fashion historian would pick apart technicalities in hairstyles and waistlines. In contrast to the red lips and sparkly eyeshadow in “Bridgerton,” Keira Knightley and her co-stars wore little to no makeup; they even used beetroots as blush.
So while "Pride and Prejudice” transports viewers to the 19th century, “Bridgerton” keeps its feet planted in the 2020s. In its conception, one of the most special features about “Bridgerton” was the diversity of its cast, groundbreaking for its genre. However, the show’s inability to time travel in season three diminishes the forward moves it has made. For many people of color, the show provided a first opportunity for them to see themselves in a period drama where they were loved and respected in a more romanticized side of history. Instead of being constricted to the roles of servants or oppressed peoples, actors of color graced the nobility and held starring roles as love interests and fully-fledged, autonomous characters. People of color finally had the opportunity to see themselves as an Elizabeth Bennet or a Mr. Darcy.
However, this feeling only lasts as long as the past is believable. With the magic of the past faded with season three, the impact of colorblind casting fades away. Instead of an inclusive “Pride and Prejudice,” the show resembles a modern show like “Grey’s Anatomy,” in which it should be no surprise to see a multiracial cast, given its setting in a metropolitan city in the United States in the 21st century. Watching “Grey’s Anatomy” feels normal, and the draw of the show comes from something else.
While “Bridgerton” draws fans for more than its diverse casting, it must be careful to preserve the feeling of reality around its setting and the characters who occupy it. Because the show has set out to create a space for people of color, it must preserve a past that people of color can escape to in order to feel that they’ve successfully lost themselves in an alternate, more accepting, Regency era.
Some may argue that camera filters or lighting distinguish films like “Pride and Prejudice” and shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” which both originally came out in 2005. It may even be said that “Bridgerton”’s modern classical music cuts through suspended disbelief. However, the issues “Bridgerton” has with creating a believable Regency era did not exist before season three. Through the classical music arrangements and the dreamy digital 6K shot, the first two seasons immerse the viewers in the Regency era. The distinction between the earlier seasons and season three is the style placed on the actors. The change in hair, makeup, and costume is more modern and crosses the line of inaccuracy, leaving viewers of color with nowhere to escape to.
Looking towards season four, designers should continue to innovate, especially for avant garde characters such as Queen Charlotte and Cressida Cowper. With that in mind, they must be careful to keep a certain degree of period accuracy in mind with the mission to suspend viewers in magical disbelief.
