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.
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.
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