Bridgerton has always put a huge amount of effort into its costumes in order to help bring its alternate history Britain to life. And it looks like few have been more essential than Sophie Baek's masquerade ball gown in the fourth season.
Netflix's period romance drama returned last month with its latest story, and tension bubbled as Yerin Ha's Sophie, dubbed the 'Lady in Silver', caught the attention of Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) with a stunning dress.
In an interview with Variety, where the gown was called the "most narratively important costume in the show’s history", costume designers John Glaser, George Sayer and Dougie Hawkes delved into the details behind the dress.
The trio explained that they specifically designed the costume to not be memorable in itself, but rather because of the vague and mesmerising imprint that it leaves in Benedict's head.
"What's interesting is that when you think about the silver dress, we see it when she puts it on [and] at the ball, but then it's no longer an important costume," explained Glaser. "What is important is the image of it, because he draws it.
"It's the memory of the shoe clip [and] of the glove. We no longer see that costume. It's all just the memory. If it was a red dress with a hard red mask, and a hard dress that had a shape, his memory would have been much sharper."
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It contrasts with the "straightforward" looks sported by some of the other characters, who dress as famous names from history or mythology, with Sophie appearing to be much more enigmatic than her counterparts.
“You remember Cleopatra's mask. You remember Joan of Arc", said Glaser. "But can you describe what Sophie's silver dress looked like? Not really. Silver. And that's the idea - she is a little blurrier. You're not really sure what it is over there."
Sayer explained that the "simplicity" of her dress allowed Sophie to be the centre of attention at the ball in the "most subtle way possible", which also reflects her social status as a housemaid.
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There's a practical reason, too, as showrunner Jess Brownell said: "We talked about putting Sophie in a full face mask or a wig. At the end of the day, the meeting between the masked woman and Benedict is so important that she needed to be able to emote."
While the early passions of Sophie and Benedict's relationship have been depicted, the story will continue as the second volume of the fourth season is due to be released later this month (26 February).
Bridgerton seasons 1-3 and 4 part 1 are streaming on Netflix, along with Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Season 4 part 2 drops on 26 February.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
