Ranking the fits of Bridgerton season three from Penelope's peacock gown to Eloise’s beflowered ball gown

Bridgerton is now streaming its third season in its entirety, and with showrunner Jess Brownell saying they’re on a “two-year pace” for season four (let her cook), we now have plenty of time to debate things like “Michaela Stirling good actually”, whether or not Benedict is boring (he is, but only because he hasn’t been given enough to do narratively), and who is a better pianist, Daphne or Francesca.

After much research and an extensive peer review process—my cat glanced at my screen while I was writing—I have determined the ten best outfits from season three, ranked according to how delicious various foods served on Bridgerton appear. This is all highly scientific, I am a trained professional.

Francesca’s tweed spencer

Francesca is the quiet Bridgerton, and as such, her wardrobe is what passes for “toned down” among her vivacious family. She wears a lot of blue—the family color—with natural motifs as we see on her siblings, but she favors softer shades and simpler patterns, often with fewer accessories than her sisters are prone to wearing. As such, her wardrobe is a little less eye-catching than everyone else, but one stand out piece is this Chanel-esque tweed spencer with flower embellishment. The texture is AMAZING, and the structured shoulders bring in a touch of the 1940s, which we also see on Penelope, a motif that unites the two heroines of season three. And that eye-popping flower is a reminder that for all her retiring ways, Fran IS a Bridgerton, and her personality will, on occasion, jump out.

Ranking: Tiny sandwiches served to your enemy

Cressida’s candy gown

Poor Cressida Cowper, she really gets a raw deal this season. She’s the mean girl of the ton but this season we get to learn a little more about Cressida and her dismal home life, with parental units who seem to be competing in the Hunger Games for Worst Parenting. Pink has long been Cressida’s signature color, and her costumes this season are a confectioner’s delight, but none more so than this eye-searing pink gown from the balloon launch. The shade matches the actual pastry tent set up at the launch, and the metallic details on the skirt are laid on to look like foil applied to chocolates. Then there’s the cotton candy shoulders, the curlicue ribbons in her hair like cake frosting, and her fan and shawl looking like a pastry box. This girl is literally trying to turn herself into a treat and it ain’t working—justice for Cressida!

Ranking: Unrefrigerated seafood tower

This random tutor’s menswear outfit

Shoutout to the servant class on Bridgerton, they’re serving and SERVING all day. With the Mondriches promoted to aristocrat status via nonsensical plot device, a tutor is engaged to teach their young son lord lessons. We know nothing about this woman except that she knows where the forks go and has excellent sartorial sense. Her menswear-inspired pewter frock is perfect for a teacher, and is one of the few examples, besides Genevieve Delacroix, of how working women in Bridgerton dress, which is as stylishly, if more plainly, than the women who employ them.

Ranking: Candies shared with a friend

Penelope in Bridgerton blue

The Bridgerton family’s signature color is blue, so it is a momentous moment when Penelope Featherington dons her first blue frock once she begins dressing herself. It’s as much a declaration of her love for Colin and his family, as it is foreshadowing her eventual entry into said family. It’s also just a pretty dress, with sequined embroidery nodding to her Featherington roots and an ingrained love of shine. Penelope’s makeover wardrobe suits her much better than her mother’s designs ever did, but Penelope retains a taste for sparkles and patterns that suggest she liked her mother’s clothes more than she let on—it was only ever the colors she didn’t like.

Ranking: Whatever THIS is

Kate’s sari-inspired dress

Last week, Lainey wondered if Kate was “giving off a vibe” this season in Bridgerton, and that vibe turned out to be “homesickness” as Kate and Anthony head off to India. In hindsight, the Bridgerton team was telegraphing Kate’s homesickness all season in her clothes, and none more so than this incredible sari-inspired gown. The colors, the draping, the textured detail, it’s unreal. I wish I had a better close-up view of this dress, but alas, Bridgerton isn’t actually a fashion show. I do wish they would publish high-def photos of each outfit, though. I could look at this dress forever.

Ranking: Benedict’s macarons

Eloise’s beflowered ball gown

In episode two, Eloise turns up in a ballgown that could stop traffic, which is unusual as she doesn’t like to be the center of society’s attention, at least, not for her clothes. However, this season Eloise is a little humbled by her previous experiences and seems determined to figure out how to exist in her social sphere with some degree of comfort, and her costumes reflect that. She takes her family’s penchant for florals to the next level with this exquisite pale green gown, with flower accents that are so delicate they look to be made from tissue paper. The whole effect is a little My Fair Lady, but no, the flowers are not a secret message about season four. It’s just a REALLY pretty dress.

Photo credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix

Ranking: Quite good gooseberry pie

The Queen’s mechanized swan wig

Queen Charlotte’s wigs have always been astounding feats of hairstyling, but her mechanical swan wig takes the cake. There’s nothing to say about this except that it is a mechanical swan wig. Hair! Style! Engineering!

Queen Charlotte's Swan Wig remains the GOAT of all Wigs. The accuracy and precision.

Must be expensive fr pic.twitter.com/yJlEPKqzGs
— EMmanuel🇳🇬 (@Official_Ogiis) April 17, 2024

Ranking: The Queen’s bowl of randomly colored eggs

Penelope’s peacock gown

When Penelope steps out for the first time in a gown of her own devising, she really makes a knock-out statement. This peacock-colored gown shows that Penelope knows how to dress to show herself to her best advantage, with a bold jewel tone that suits her fair skin and red hair perfectly, and a silhouette that flatters her body, but she retains a little of the Featherington flash with the embroidery and sparkly accents on the gown. There’s also a little 1940s styling in her hair that we see throughout the season, mixing in purposeful anachronisms to give Penelope, and to a lesser extent Francesca, a distinctive style amongst the so-stylish ton.

Ranking: Tasty pastries

Francesca’s wedding dress

We got not one but TWO wedding dresses this season, both of which are imminently wearable for the modern bride. For those who like a simple silhouette with classical detailing, Francesca’s gown is a stand-out. It’s delicate yet practical, perfectly suiting a simple, drawing room ceremony. It also reflects Fran’s simpler tastes, while still reading distinctly bridal. It’s her best gown of the season.

Ranking: Tower of tiny chickens

Penelope’s wedding dress

Penelope’s wedding dress, on the other hand, is for the vintage-loving bride who wants to stand out. Again, this feels completely wearable in a modern context, thanks in part to the blush tone—wedding dresses weren’t typically white until Queen Victoria popularized the look in 1840—and the 1940’s twist on Regency style. Penelope looks like she could be walking out of her wedding in 1946 as easily as she is her wedding in 1816. This is my favorite dress of the season, a perfect encapsulation of Penelope’s character—a woman who wants to stand out on her own terms, but is also a romantic at heart.