Costume designers Lyn Paolo and Laura Frecon tell how they created a new world apart from Bridgerton for the spinoff series
After creating a fantastical and fashionable world in Bridgerton, Netflix’s new spinoff series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story goes above and beyond with its costumes.
The limited series, starring both Golda Rosheuvel and India Amarteifio as the titular royal figure, takes place in two different time periods as it recounts Queen Charlotte’s marriage to King George III and their epic love story.
Having previously worked on Bridgerton, costume designers Lyn Paolo and Laura Frecon put a lot of research and planning into making the costumes for the new series — from reading Queen Charlotte’s biography to visiting museums and exhibits. The end result was the creation of thousands of one-of-a-kind costumes and jewelry pieces. In fact, they kept running out of jewelry during filming!
While the costumes stay true to the “Bridgerton aesthetic” in many ways, Paolo and Frecon note they didn’t reference the original series too much as the spinoff felt like its own separate world.
One way the show does mirror Bridgerton, however, is by telling each character’s story through their costumes with cleverly placed Easter eggs throughout, which Paolo and Frecon both attribute to showrunner Shonda Rhimes’ brilliant writing.
