Last Christmas, the hit streaming service Netflix released yet another golden jewel in its miniseries collection — Bridgerton. The story is set in 1813 Regency England, and it follows the lives of London’s upper-crust social circle that organizes a formal season each year with the goal of marrying off its eligible young women. The show’s costume designer, Ellen Mirojnick, was tasked with the difficult challenge to create the outfits of all the characters. Instead of repurposing existing costumes, however, the Emmy-winning designer decided to make all of them from scratch!
More Than 230 People Worked on the Costumes
Just a glimpse at the series will show you that Ellen’s brave undertaking achieved astonishing results. Every gorgeous dress and dandy outfit you see on Bridgerton, regardless if it was worn by the main characters or someone in the background, was meticulously handmade. Gloves, purses, jewelry, shoes, and other accessories too were made by hand. Talk about dedication!
Every Bridgerton Costume Told a Story
From the get-go, Ellen was adamant that there would be “no bonnets” on the show. What was present in each outfit, however, was sheer perfection and attention to detail. The designer said every dress and outfit was made according to the personality and social class of each character. To pull this off, at one point, Ellen had more than 230 people working on the costumes. There were corset makers, cutters, jewelry makers, an embellishment department, hatters, shoemakers, and many other experts who ensured everything was in line with the time period and the series plotline.
Ellen was quite happy with her team of designers, who were all excited to “create something new and fresh.” By the end of the show, the team had made more than 7,500 costumes, with over 100 of those intended for the main character, Daphne Bridgerton, played by the talented Phoebe Dynevor. Can you imagine wearing 100 different dresses in just eight episodes? Neither could Phoebe!