In the glamorous world of Bridgerton, where appearances and societal status dictate the lives of its characters, Penelope Featherington's transformation in Season 3 stands out as a compelling narrative. From being a wallflower, Penelope evolves into a confident young woman, ready to embrace her destiny. At the start of the season, we find her feeling restless, estranged from her best friend, and stifled by her mother’s expectations. Despite her successful anonymous gossip column under the Lady Whistledown moniker, Penelope longs for a world where she no longer has to answer to her mother’s authority.
“I need to leave this house,” Penelope confides in her modiste confidant in the premiere episode, signaling her readiness to embrace the debutante life seriously and find a husband who respects her privacy. This decision marks the beginning of her dramatic style metamorphosis.
Penelope's transformation is meticulously crafted by costume designer John Glasner and hair and makeup designer Erika Okvist. Their goal was to create a “look DNA” for the new Penelope, involving better-fitting corsets that emphasized her maturity.
“They softened the bust line. We see her body,” Glasner explains. “She’s no longer a child. She’s a woman, and we wanted her to look like one.”
Gone are the garish citrus colors of the Featherington family palette. Instead, Penelope adopts refined shades of green, which becomes her new signature color. “We enhanced the sultry cat eyes and pouty lips,” says Okvist. “It was a big change, but it was natural to her.”
Penelope's physical transformation symbolizes a much more profound shift within her. “She’s now empowered,” Glasner remarks. “A person always feels empowered when they feel comfortable in what they’re wearing, and it becomes part of them.” As Penelope begins to realize her elegance, she gains confidence. “She doesn’t want to lie about who she is; she just needs to make this style her own,” adds Okvist. This newfound maturity and self-assurance reflect in her behavior and decisions throughout the season.
The transformation begins with Penelope’s realization that to escape her mother's suffocating control, she must find a husband. “It is time,” she vents to the modiste. Using some of her earnings from the Lady Whistledown column, she suggests exploring a style inspired by Parisian fashion. Glasner takes this opportunity to elevate her fashion to the heights of 1820 style. A two-piece corset gives Penelope an hourglass shape, changing her posture dramatically.
“A waist and a fuller skirt works well with her body shape,” he says. “Instead of fighting her body, we enhanced what’s there.”
Penelope’s new look makes its dramatic debut at Lady Danbury’s ball. Her dark green dress with black gloves stands in stark contrast to her previous neon attire. “It’s a color her mother would never allow her to wear,” Glasner notes. The choice of green, with hints of copper and black, symbolizes Penelope’s shift from her mother’s control to her own independence.
Okvist adds cat-eye shadow to enhance the seductive element of her look. “What will snare all these young eligible men?” she muses. “What will make them look at her?”
Despite her striking appearance, Penelope struggles with flirtation and the harsh opinions of the ton. A scene at the ball captures her discomfort when Cressida Cowper steps on her gown, tearing it and exposing her vulnerability.
“It’s Penelope’s first attempt at something new, so it was a little off and not quite right,” Glasner explains.
Subsequent looks are toned down to a more comfortable palette for Penelope, including an embroidered light blue floral dress during a notable balloon disaster. This shift allows her to blend into the background as Lady Whistledown while highlighting her natural beauty. “Her skin now looks like velvet butter. Her cheekbones are going up to God,” Okvist remarks.
Ultimately, Penelope’s new look is designed to enhance her natural features and reflect her true personality. “Instead of adding things to her costume, we took things away,” says Glasner. This minimalist approach helps Penelope discover and embrace who she truly is. By the end of Season 3, Penelope Featherington is no longer the shy wallflower but a confident young woman ready to take on the world, proving that the clothes, indeed, make the woman.
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