Bridgerton’s Costume & Hair Designers on Blending Character, Class and Style in Season 4
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After three seasons of pastels, elaborate gowns, and instantly recognizable family color palettes, Season 4 of Bridgerton gave costume designer John Glaser and Head of Hair & Make Up Department Nic Collins a new challenge: bringing very different worlds together without losing the visual language the series has spent years building.
For Glaser, that meant starting with color. The Bridgertons may still have their signature blues and silvers, but this season called for a more mature, muted version of the palette as the story moves beyond the upper-class world audiences are used to seeing.
“This is the first time that we’ve had to go deal with the working class.”
The shift may be subtle, but it was necessary. Keeping the Ton in its usual bright pastels would have created too much visual distance between the characters, so Glaser brought those familiar colors down a few hues, allowing the two worlds to exist naturally alongside each other.
That balance between familiarity and change runs throughout Season 4.
Bridgerton has never been interested in recreating the Regency era exactly. Glaser pulls from period paintings alongside current fashion, magazines, movies, and even other decades, taking whatever feels right for the world the show has created.
“It’s never quite accurate, but it kind of looks accurate and it feels accurate.”
Collins takes much the same approach to hair and makeup. A hairstyle might have a Regency silhouette but use a texture that feels distinctly contemporary, giving audiences something they can connect with even within the heightened world of the series. This season, that includes goddess waves and intricate braid work, trends Collins was already seeing make their way into modern fashion.
“You’re always kind of looking back but also looking forward as well to see how you can merge kind of then and now.”
Few places gave the teams more freedom to play with that idea than the masquerade ball. An early plan to give the entire ball one theme quickly felt too limiting. Glaser and Collins instead approached it character by character, imagining what each person would actually choose to wear if invited to a Regency-era costume party.
Colin and Penelope became pirates, Eloise chose Joan of Arc, and even the background characters were given individual looks. In total, the teams created 172 distinct costume, hair, and makeup combinations.
For Glaser, the choices always came back to personality.
“I just do what I think is right for the character, right for the story.”
Even details that might seem minor behind the scenes have become part of the language fans use to understand the show. Whether it’s pairing Bridgerton blue with gold instead of silver or changing Eloise’s bangs, Glaser and Collins know audiences are paying attention.
That attention to character becomes particularly important with Sophie.
Her introduction at the masquerade needed to accomplish several things at once. The dress had to feel like something she could realistically have access to while still catching Benedict’s attention and offering a glimpse of who Sophie is beyond her current circumstances.
Glaser ultimately avoided tying the dress too closely to one historical period. What mattered more was making sure the look felt true to Sophie.
“She was rich before, she was tasteful before, and she’ll be the same after that.”
Her life as a maid required a very different approach. Collins kept Sophie’s hair simple, neat, and practical, always considering what she could realistically do herself and how much time she would have to do it.
Those questions extended all the way down to her makeup. Where would she get rouge? What kind of lip color could she access? Could she recreate a hairstyle quickly while also running a household?
“The simpler, the better, but very kind of neat and tidy, so that there was no room for her to be criticized in that house.”
The restrictions surrounding Sophie also helped establish a clearer visual divide between classes. Couture hairstyles could remain at the upper end of society, while the women working below stairs might try to emulate them with less time, equipment, and access.
For Glaser and Collins, those differences couldn’t simply disappear when the story needed them to. Once the rules were established, the teams had to stay true to them.
Things loosen considerably when Sophie and Benedict leave the Ton behind for My Cottage.
Glaser describes the shift simply as “earth and nature versus chandeliers and candles.” Fabrics become rougher, colors less brilliant, and silhouettes less restricted. Collins followed suit by stripping back the styling, allowing natural skin, freckles, looser hair, and even a few days of stubble to come through.
It gave both characters a chance to look less controlled without suddenly feeling out of place in the period.
“Let them be real and free.”
Whether they’re creating 172 individual looks for the masquerade or stripping everything back at My Cottage, Glaser and Collins continue to let character and circumstance shape the details. Season 4 gives them plenty of new territory to work with, while still leaving room for the mix of period references, modern influences, and creative freedom that has always defined Bridgerton’s style.
