Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan just took one of the signature looks of the Regency era, the corset, and remixed it for 2024.
Nicola Coughlan, who stars in the third installment of the enormously popular Netflix series, attended a dinner in New York City wearing a fire engine red leather trench coat dress with a black leather corset layered over the top instead of being tucked inside per the traditional manner of wearing said corset.
The dress in question is a bright, vibrant red that nearly hits the floor, and Coughlan wore it with the sleeves rolled slightly up. The corset is pristine black leather with an attached grommeted garter belt, though given it was styled over her coat, she didn't wear it with stockings and just let the straps fly free. Her Artists4Ceasefire pin was missing from the 'fit, but she's been wearing it faithfully to many Bridgerton events thus far.
Coughlan styled her corset and coat with a teeny black Kate Spade bag and oversized silver ball earrings, blonde waves, and smoky eyes courtesy of makeup artist Daniel Martin. Gone are Penelope Featherington's pastel gowns, as well as her tumbling red curls. (Coughlan wears wigs when she's in character as Penelope.)
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While Coughlan herself may be drawn to bright white and bold red shades, her onscreen character ditched the orange and yellow gowns in favor of softer shades, as well as a dramatic emerald green moment. "We softened her colors and used blue and green together, little bit of pinks, touches of yellow," Bridgerton costume designer John Glaser told Teen Vogue of Penelope's season 3 transformation. "We didn't want to place Easter eggs for people to think, 'Oh, this blue dress means she's going to be a Bridgerton.' I wanted to keep all the costumes a little mysterious because they were all changing and evolving."
We may not see Penelope in a scarlet trench coat and corset on the show, but we're loving it on Nicola Coughlan!
