'Bridgerton' and dressing up!

Bridgerton is an American drama series created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes and is on Netflix since December 2020. It is based on Julia Quinn's novels. It takes place around 1813 in the competitive world of Regency London at the debutante ball: regency dresses, gloves and umbrellas. Daughters of aristocratic backgrounds make their debut in the hope of securing a suitable marriage partner.

Totally new!
But Bridgerton is not just a costume drama as we have seen in the past such as Downton Abbey, Amadeus, The King's speech, The remains of the day and Pride & Prejudice. Bridgerton is innovative in terms of casting. The cast is multi-cultural and it fits perfectly into the story.

In addition, we all enjoy Bridgerton exactly at the right moment. We are in a dark time because of the Pandemic and most people have been living in their hoodies and sweatpants for months. And suddenly there is a delightful series in which the costumes look dramatically large, extremely beautiful and almost unreal.

Run-away-bride?
We cannot run from a Pandemic, in fact, we are all trapped in our home or our limited work-related-circle or 'social bubble'. We have to get the Pandemic under control and prevent it from spreading around. Of course, everyone knows it won't last forever, even though it feels like it.  But we can escape and enjoy our digital life,  a good book or great movies and  series. Like Bridgerton!

Costumes and dressing up big time!
The life at Bridgerton's is so different that it seems almost unreal. Beautiful settings, people and even better: the costumes and accessories. While we are walking in the streets with masks and plastic gloves, the Bridgerton artistocracy walks with umbrellas, mega dresses (with crinoline cages underneath), hats and long, flawless white or lace gloves.

When was the last time we dressed up so chic, or did we do our very best to look neat and clean? It seems a long time ago.... The twenties of this century, so far, do not look like  'the roaring twenties' (of the last century) at all....

Dressing up, in dark times
In this corona crisis, is hardly applicable anymore. Why should we? Many people opt for convenience and comfort. But dressing up also has to do with joie de vivre, self-confidence, self-esteem and ambition.

As we wrote in: Living in a bubble, we now live and work digitally, but we are definitely seen. Behind the screen during Facetime conversations, by means of selfies for Instagram or during meetings on Zoom. A nice blouse with a bow or brooch, or a homemade Chanel-style jacket, shows a different attitude than a sweater or hoodie with a just-out-of-bed hairstyle.

Read more: Dressing up or dressing down

Bridgerton as inspiration
But for now, fortunately, we have Bridgerton to escape from the abnormally-normal now-a-days world.  We live  in our comfortable - dressing down clothes for months.... And while we are enjoying ourselves watching the innovative costume drama, why not make something ourselves? Just for fun, or for the future (party)?

Our suggestions for you to get creative:

• Join the challenge of making a Crinoline cage.
  
• Try making a beautiful Victorian blouse with puff sleeves
  
• Upcycling: from shirt to special Chanel-style blouse
  
• Or start making Victorian-style clothing
  
• Or a blouse with beautiful ruffles and large sleeves
  

Summarized:
While we are enjoying the Netflix series Bridgerton and the beautiful costumes, we realize once again how we are live during the Pandemic and lockdown(s).  We hardly make any effort to look good. Comfort is more important than chic, and that is of course practical. Dressing down is also part of life and has become almost standard in this corona time ...

But 'Dressing up' says a lot about you as a person and is always possible. Use the beautiful series as inspiration and make something beautiful for yourself, for now or later. We won't be walking down the street in crinolines or mega costumes, but sometimes it's not just about the result, but also about the feeling and of course the challenge of the sewing process!