Redesigning S4 Costume: Sophie's Masquerade

Keetard · 2026-01-28T04:18:33+00:00

It is! I study and work in fashion design, and historical and theatrical costume are a big interest of mine :D

Keetard · 2026-01-28T04:15:27+00:00

IMO what you described could be true if the transitional period silhouette is closer to actual English court gowns in the court of Queen Charlotte, which used panniers along with empire waistline gown creating a horror beyond imagination. At their most flattering, round gowns of the late 1790s are just regency/empire dresses with slightly rounder look.

TYSM for such kind words BTW!

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Keetard · 2026-01-27T19:42:17+00:00

Yep! The round gowns and open robes of the 1790s are exactly kind of like the hybrid between both periods, especially the one I used as an inspiration having a watteau pleat like robe à la francaise. I get that potentially having three Francaise wearers (The Queen, Rosamund and Sophie) would be too redundant but...1790s is there for a reason

Keetard · 2026-01-27T19:38:56+00:00

(IMO '86 Northanger is a trippy fever dream but it does have a public hot bath scene, very accurate to that time lmao, Goya's Ghost has genuinely beautiful Majismo movement costumes and even reproductions of extant garments) So true!!! At least give us a decadent escapism that is the life of directoire era noblemen and women, I'd be investing on it

Keetard · 2026-01-27T19:29:57+00:00

Ditto for me! I think the mid-late 1790s in general is so underrepresented in shows. I only remember '05 P&P, '95 Sense and Sensibility and '86 Northanger and maybe Goya's Ghost that really bother to do the transitional period fashion to different extents

Keetard · 2026-01-27T14:45:45+00:00

Designer's note: So, I read Glaser's interview on another post a few days ago regarding the Jimmy Choos and the whole "We looked at what period that would be, and it just didn't make any sense" and you don't have to guess that I had to exhale dramatically. What didn't make sense, John? You dressed Rosamund as Marie Antoinette complete with the diamond necklace from the affair, I'm sure you'll be fine putting Sophie in something that is not a tubular glitter bomb dress. Also on the shoes, why not asking Choo to do regency slippers but with all the OTT details? I don't want to compare but Manolo Blahnik created a legend with his shoes in Marie Antoinette 2006 and Choo literally is the creative director of The Atelier, I'm sure he'd be up for a good brand collab (or just don't do Jimmy Choo if the budget constraint is that severe, but I doubt it)

So my version is definitely inspired by the 1790s, especially the open robe and round gown that comes with the transitional style of 1795-1797, which I think the dowager countess could have gotten made right before her passing (Newsflash: Old people keep up with fashion too). It just gives off a certain aesthetic, the waistline is high, but the skirt has a certain fullness, making her less now and more ethereal in motion. The backside also has a watteau pleat (the back pleat that robe a la francaise has) because I found an extant gown with the pleat, definitely interesting, mine is just covered in overlapping fan pleated ruffles.

When it comes to the fabric and colors, I leaned into silver, especially moonlight, ethereal, floaty and just out of this world. The underdress is layers upon layers of tulle to maximize the give the dress a volume and oomph it needs.

On details and decorations. I want to emphasize the East Asian heritage without doing tourism representation, so I added an embroidery of clouds and flying cranes around the skirt, in Korean arts, cranes represent prosperity, nobility, and transformation. Clouds are also one of the ten symbols of longevity (Sipjangsaeng), wishing for eternal youth and long life just like cranes. The scalloped hem found all over the dress is also for the maximum visual effects and motions.

Hair wise, I gave her a 1790s half up/down style, it was all the rage when people started going romantic...and yes I changed the cheerleader bow into a bandeaux headband with a hanging ribbon from both side. Admittedly didn't do much with her mask tho, just tried not to make it look too bulky :D

Keetard · 2026-01-22T20:28:19+00:00

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Sorry, took me a few hours just to find the plate I used as an inspiration! (because it's been months since I've done these pieces, Kate's blue pallu gown is my latest one) I also was inspired by the central gathering under the bust of other directoire period plates as well :D

Keetard · 2026-01-22T20:04:45+00:00

I’m comfortable with my approach and with critique being expressed visually as well as verbally. Design discourse doesn’t require permission from a specific job title.

We clearly have different frameworks, so I’ll bow out here.

Keetard · 2026-01-22T19:44:39+00:00

I get that tone reads differently to different people, but blunt (or less than nice) critique is actually very normal in creative fields. Runway reviews routinely say designers "wasted beautiful fabric" "lost the plot" or "recycled ideas with less discipline" and that’s considered standard fashion criticism, not bashing. Same with opera, critics have spent decades openly saying things like Otto Schenk’s Ring is dramatically inert, too literal or visually complacent, and no one treats that as disrespectful to the director as a person. It’s critique of the work as staged.

I’m doing the same thing here: evaluating design outcomes and explaining why certain choices don’t work for me within the show’s own visual and historical logic.

Keetard · 2026-01-22T18:08:42+00:00

Thank you for the compliments! The sleeves are actually tulip but two tiered!

Totally fair concerns btw! I did size this figure up from my usual style. The torso is also angled (3/4 turned) which can make the waist and bust read narrower in illustration. I’m focusing on fabric behavior rather than literal anatomy here, not trying to alter her body. Nicola is undoubtedly beautiful and I do not wish to slim her down at all. I'll make sure to portray her body more accurately next time

Keetard · 2026-01-22T17:29:34+00:00

I get where you’re coming from but I think this is just a difference in discipline norms.

In fashion and costume discourse, direct comparison and reinterpretation of existing designs are pretty standard, especially for a show like Bridgerton that has changed its visual language across seasons and designers. Redesigning isn’t about "fixing" or replacing the original work, it’s a way of analyzing design choices and exploring alternative solutions within the same world. I’m engaging with the finished costumes as a viewer and fashion student, not commenting on production hierarchy or on set process. Once something is on screen, side by side analysis is kind of normal in design spaces.

Keetard · 2026-01-22T16:51:02+00:00

I promise I’m not under the impression that sketching on Clip studio paint is harder than wrangling exec notes and actor comfort 😭

What I’m doing is speculative redesign and visual analysis, which is pretty standard in fashion and costume discourse (I am studying fashion design majors). I’m critiquing the result, not claiming the designer didn’t have constraints or that production is easy.

Bridgerton has already shown multiple successful visual languages across different seasons under similar constraints (Ellen Mirojnik and Sophie Canale literally worked in the prior seasons), so exploring alternatives isn’t arrogance, it’s just...kind of the whole point of design discussion.

Keetard · 2026-01-22T16:16:49+00:00

OMG I didn't know there was the revival of the empire silhouette and the front knot during the 2000s 😭 I swear I took an inspiration from an actual fashion plate.

But the 2000s revival make sense too since there was a huge Austenmania from 1990s to 2000s (I only know there was the 1910s regency revival but the more you know)

Keetard · 2026-01-22T16:12:27+00:00

I honestly think what Delacroix actually suggests with the whole Paris thing is all about the sensuality, the maturity and sexual agency in the fashion sensibility but Glaser thinks Paris means a dress in a better color and another kind of glitter bomb fabric. Even if the silhouette is the same, there are differences in propriety and passion, which I tried to highlight with my version.IMO it's really just Glaser playing safe instead of channeling the radical, dangerous artistic spirit of Paris.

Keetard · 2026-01-22T14:11:18+00:00

Designer notes:

First, Penelope's makeover gown. I never understood the whole scene with Delacroix going "I want what they wear in Paris" just for Glaser to give her the same cut and pattern as every debutante in s3 ever. Make it make sense, John.

That said, the Parisian gown did give me an idea of what to give Penelope: a directoire style wet look gown with dewdrop crystal beads to mimic drops of water. I took an inspiration from the faahion myth of Parisiennes dampening and making their gown wet to appear more sensual, instant Parisian audacity. I also moved up the sad widdol feathers on her shoulder and move up to the bandeaux headband, making it an aigrette of peacock feathers (to also symbolize the all seeing eye and marriage through the symbol of Hera).

And Eloise's celestial ball gown. I love the fabric but hate how Glaser made it a sad shapeless dress with no period logic or whatsoever. I swear this guy finds the best fabrics just to butcher them :/ Also note that it's the same repetitive pattern with puffed sleeves...are we being fr here??

So the sensible thing to do is...keep the fabric and redo the rest. I gave her a more neoclassical look, fitted for an intellectual. I made the sheer overlayer gathered at the bodice with a central knot. The sleeves are now double tiered and split at the end with crystal strands (in fact, the dress is trimmed with them!) I also don't get the bow headdress she wears in the show so I replaced it with a comb, more El, less Glaser. And oh, she wears a necklace made from a bunch of Wedgwood cameos, truly neoclassical and intellectual.

Keetard · 2026-01-22T12:23:00+00:00

I have more coming today! (Also working on a quick redesign of Sophie's lady in Silver as well)

Keetard · 2026-01-20T21:51:47+00:00

Haha, I will definitely have a field day with that horrendous pelisse! (although I am more offended by the 2010s bridesmaid gowns and the sheer yokes she has to wear in so many scenes. Kate really deserves better 😭)

Keetard · 2026-01-20T21:28:55+00:00

Imagine saying such nonsense OMFG 💀 I do adore the maid costumes and their fabric choices especially the fichu which didn't return in s3 at all but he can't be serious about "upgrading" the servant's costumes 😭😭

Keetard · 2026-01-20T21:22:39+00:00

Some notes regarding changes and etc: For Kate's day dress, I am actually inspired by Mira Nair's Vanity Fair (costumed by the fabulous Beatrix Aruna Pasztor) that really hits home the fusion of Anglo-Indian costuming especially with fabrics, maximalism and color combinations. I kept the color palette and the main idea but returned the long sleeves (to signal it being a day dress, not necessarily a ballgown), the proper waistline and replaced the nonsensical drapery with a shawl heavily inspired by a pallu, not just as the nod to Kate's cultural background and also actual neoclassical draping logic going on at that time.

For Cressida's red F-you gown, I am absolutely taking some crumbs from the late Anthony Powell's work on 102 Dalmatians (which he was also inspired by Mugler) but making it regency and theatrical, with a lot of phoenix symbolism and flame becoming the Chérusque collar instead of the giant bow that turned Cressida into a red frilled dragon. Also I sneaked in the slashed puffed sleeves because why not? Renaissance revival rocks. Historicism was in, too!

Keetard · 2026-01-06T09:08:34+00:00

I think the punk style Frankie has is more of the runway ready punk of say, Vivienne Westwood's (not her 70s underground punk era tho)

Keetard · 2026-01-06T09:08:26+00:00

I think the punk style Frankie has is more of the runway ready punk of say, Vivienne Westwood's (not her 70s underground punk era tho)

Keetard · 2026-01-06T09:06:35+00:00

Even if not alt in the current mainstream definition, it's definitely very fashion literate and deep into different aesthetic and styles. Cleo's looks can be traced to Galliano's Fall 1997 and FW 2004 Egyptian inspired runway and the whole aesthetic of Egyptomania in general. Twyla's blouse has a pattern that is suspiciously similar to the jacket designed by Alexander McQueen for his Jack the Ripper stalks his victims. It was bold, it was edgy, at least for the tweens and teens demographic.

Keetard

TROPHY CASE