As Bridgerton Season 3 lands on Netflix, John Glaser talks us through Penelope’s new look, Colin’s Marlboro Man-inspired aesthetic, and more.
Photo: Liam Daniel/Netflix
There’s a moment in the Bridgerton Season 3 when Nicola Coughlan’s Penelope Featherington—this installment’s new leading lady, who, as a supporting character, was previously almost always dressed in a retina-searing shade of yellow—finds herself unable to sleep. Her best friend, Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie), has discovered that she has—spoiler alert—been moonlighting as Lady Whistledown, and so has abandoned her in favor of the mean-spirited Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen). Her sisters (Bessie Carter’s Prudence Featherington and Harriet Cains’s Philipa Featherington), too, have taken husbands, and she finds herself in need of a fresh start. She must also marry, Penelope decides, and build a life where she can continue to write her salacious social commentary in private.
She gets out of bed, flings open the doors of her wardrobe, and looks inside with frustration. On a visit to the modiste the following day, she declares, “I do not wish to see a citrus color ever again.” Cue a makeover, which sees the social wallflower swap her pastels and floral motifs for a darker and more sensual color palette—one which catches the eye of Luke Newton’s Colin Bridgerton, her lifelong friend who, over time, begins to see her in a whole new light.
Nicola Coughlan’s Penelope Featherington yearns for a makeover in Bridgerton Season 3. Photo: Liam Daniel/Netflix
Her sartorial transformation is just one of many in the Regency romp’s next chapter: there’s also Colin himself, who returns from his European adventures as a more rugged and worldly suitor, trading his Bridgerton baby blues for earthier shades; Eloise, whose outfits begin to mirror the flamboyance of Cressida’s; and Kate Bridgerton, née Sharma (Simone Ashley), whose Indian heritage, referenced in her…
