‘Bridgerton’ Costume Designer Reveals One of Penelope’s Dresses Was a Hidden Clue for Season 3

“We’re all so different as individuals. So it’s really nice to take the foundation of their concepts and then push them a little bit further,” Sophie Canale tells PEOPLE about creating Bridgerton costumes

BRIDGERTON (L to R) NICOLA COUGHLAN as PENELOPE FEATHERINGTON, BESSIE CARTER as PRUDENCE FEATHERINGTON and HARRIET CAINS as PHILLIPA FEATHERINGTON in episode 10 of BRIDGERTON Cr. LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX © 2020
PHOTO: LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX

Netflix’s Bridgerton has captivated audiences with its dramatic plotlines and swoon-worthy romances, but one of the most fascinating aspects of the show is how they tell a story through all the various Regency-era looks.

PEOPLE recently spoke with costume designer Sophie Canale during a costume installation for Netflix’s FYSEE Experience — which kicked off on May 15 at Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles — and she teased that one outfit from last season was actually a big Easter egg for what’s to come in season 3.

In episode 4, we see Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) stray from her usual yellow gowns to a softer green-hued dress, which many fans have theorized symbolizes a merging of her family’s yellow color palette and Colin (Luke Newton)’s blue color palette.

Confirming fans’ suspicions, Canale teased that Penelope’s green dress was meant to subtly reveal that season 3 would be about Penelope and Colin’s love story, which Netflix recently confirmed this week.

“I’ve known for a very long time,” Canale says about season 3 following the fourth Bridgerton book Romancing Mister Bridgerton. “I forgot actually that no one else knew until last night. That’s useful as a tool to know where your characters are going as well.”

Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington, Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton in episode 208 of Bridgerton
LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX © 2022

She added that the combining of Penelope and Colin’s family colors was similar to how Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor)’s blue color palette changed following her marriage to Simon (Regé-Jean Page) in season 1, who is often shown in red.

“When you see Daphne, we pushed her into lilacs in season 1 because of the marriage of the families and I think that’s quite important to be seen.”

As Canale took over for Ellen Mirojnick as lead costume designer in season 2, she says “[pushing] the characters into their own direction” through fashion was something that was really important to her.

“We’re all so different as individuals. So it’s really nice to take the foundation of their concepts and then push them a little bit further with elements of jewelry and hairpins,” she says.

“So there’s a real distinction between the Bridgerton brothers [in season 2]. I really wanted to show the individual characters how they’re developing through season 1 and how [in] season 2 they’re now on another journey.”

Bridgerton
Charithra Chandran as Edwina and Simone Ashley as Kate Sharma. NETFLIX

For Kate (Simone Ashley) and Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran), who joined the show in season 2, Canale wanted to make sure their costumes paid tribute to their Indian heritage.

“Naturally, having a family that was traveling from India, I really wanted to have the Indian influence and an origin of their culture,” she says.

“I had many discussions with [showrunner] Chris Van Dusen and Shondaland over how much we were going to push their Indian dress. So [we used] the Empire line dresses as the Regency cut, but [we also used] fabrics using the jewel tones of India.”

For Kate specifically, Canale focused on strong, bold colors that played into the character’s personality. “She’s a forceful young woman,” she adds. “So there’s a definite nod to the Indian culture, even if that’s subtle in some of the costumes.”

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