Christenings to Funerals:
Costumes of the Film

Costume designer Steven Noble first collaborated with Zellweger and Maguire on Bridget Jones’s Diary as an assistant costumer. Having helped to create the original on-screen look, there was synergy in bringing him back to dress a more mature Bridget. In her forties now, Bridget is slimmer, successful and has more of a disposable income – all of which affected her look. “I started off by doing a timeline of both films. We put the iconic looks of Bridget from the two previous films together on a storyboard, so I had an essence of the character,” offers the designer. “We then set about making her a bit chicer, a little more ‘put together’, although as the story unravels, she slightly loses it.”

Drawing on the colour palette from the first chapter, specifically burgundy mixed with pastel pink, Noble conveyed a sense of continuity and progression, bridging the gap between the younger and older Bridget. Likewise, he brought into 2016 some staples. “She still has a couple of old pieces in her wardrobe. The iconic lace-trimmed jersey vest from Jigsaw and cardigan from Brora are still a staple in Bridget’s wardrobe.

Bridget’s wardrobe is defined by three key pieces – short skirts, heeled boots and tights – but it is how she puts together her Weisel, Jimi Choo, Jigsaw, Brora and H&M that makes her look more eclectic. “The outfit that symbolises Bridget most is a black corduroy skirt with a hand-printed Nina Ricci blouse – the high-street skirt with a designer top and crop cardigan. As soon as Renée puts something on, she goes into Bridget’s world. It’s her mannerisms, the way she moves, her body language.”

Of course that would suggest Bridget is fashion savvy, stylish and skilled at creating looks for the right situations, all of which Bridget is not. To remain true to the essence of her character, Noble added or detracted small changes, designed to put the finished look off kilter in subtle ways. “She wants to express this positive, together woman with a look that she’s seen and loves, but she gets it ever so slightly wrong,” Noble explains. “She might wear the wrong pair of shoes, or put a blouse on that’s slightly see through, a skirt that’s back to front, or wear tights with a peep-toe shoe.”

With more than 60 costume changes representing a timeline covering 18 months, from career woman to mum to be, there are many looks that Noble and his team had to craft for Bridget, but of those looks, what for him are the key pieces that define Bridget?

“Firstly there’s the opening dress, which is the memorial dress. We didn’t want it to look too heavy and too memorial looking. I had a Spanish widow in my head, which is where the lace comes from. It’s the first time we see Bridget after all these years, and whilst it’s such a beautiful dress, it’s slightly inappropriate because there’s too much cleavage showing for a memorial, which is yet another Bridget faux pas.

“The other look is the Christening dress, which I designed based on a 1930s/’40s piece,” he continues, “because we wanted the covered buttons with the button loops down the back, which Mark Darcy can’t undo. Then there’s the wedding dress. I decided to keep it simple, iconic and timeless. She looks absolutely stunningly beautiful in it. It’s the one and only time where everything comes together – her hair, makeup, accessories and dress – and she gets it right for her walk down the aisle.”

Noble collaborated with his longtime friend and costume designer GILES DEACON to create the exquisite outfit. Drawing on the bridal gowns of Julie Andrews as Maria von Trapp and Grace Kelly, the dress is made from double-faced silk duchess satin, chosen for its elegance and its light reflective qualities. “I’d designed a bolero jacket over the strapless dress to give the silhouette of those two dresses, but updating it whilst still making it timeless. It is slightly removed from Bridget’s world in that she may not have chosen something as chic, but it’s a stunning, timeless piece.”

With a wedding comes a ring and for Bridget, the team looked to Tiffany. Known as the Tiffany setting [eight-pronged and with a raised dome], her ring is designed to lift the diamond off the band, maximizing the stone’s natural radiance. The Tiffany ring is the genuine article, valued at £55,000.00, and appropriate as it connected Bridget’s to her younger self as one of the items to have survived the 15-year absence was her heart shaped Tiffany necklace. “We established the Tiffany heart in the first film, and it was taken through the second,” says Noble. “It’s a timeless piece. It’s the Paloma Picasso design, perhaps an 18^th birthday present from Mum and Dad. It’s something that’s iconic to Bridget. Besides which, Renée was adamant that she wear it.”

Fifteen years on and, like Bridget, Mark’s style has become more sophisticated as well. Gone are the oversized suits of the late ’90s in favour of a more tailored look. “Then it was all Burberry, whereas now he’s in a mixture of Tom Ford and Gieves & Hawkes,” explains Noble. “It’s just a sharper silhouette.”

Noble’s brief was to give him more sex appeal, if that was at all possible in a man who, this year alone, has been voted sexiest man alive by the British public. “He’s a handsome man,” agrees Noble. “And he’s got a great figure to dress. It’s just the cut of the suit. That’s all it is. He’s a 40/32 classic man’s shape, and it is as subtle as the suits. It’s just the cut of the suit that can make it or break it. How much you nip in the waist or how narrow to go on the trouser leg to give a beautiful silhouette.”

Mark’s world is of course more conservative than the one Bridget inhabits, and costume plays a big role in defining those comparisons. “His world is safer, more formulaic,” says Noble, “so we convey that with a well put together, groomed look. It’s all in that fine detail: the cut of the suit, the accessories.”

Conversely, the audience is never invited into Jack’s life in the same way that they are brought into Bridget and Mark’s world. More so than any other character, therefore, everything about Jack had to be conveyed through costume. “Patrick wanted Jack to look and feel more Anglicized,” says Noble. “There’s some Paul Smith, Private White, Folk, Sunspel – beautiful, well-made, English clothing. Jack and Mark are wearing similar pieces, but put together differently. Jack wears two pieces with jeans rather than a three-piece suit. He may wear the jacket and the waistcoat with a T-shirt.”

In creating Jack’s look, Noble made references to the dot-com world the American inhabits, one of Hoxton and Shoreditch influence. “Jack is the classic lumbersexual, which is a professional, fashionable man with a beard who wears checked shirts,” laughs Noble. “He comes from that world, but we’ve made it more classic. We’ve toned it down and made it look more expensive and well put together.”

Production wrapped, producer Fellner sums what it was like for the filmmakers to revisit old friends. He concludes: “There is something extraordinarily pleasurable about delivering a Bridget Jones film into the market place. I feel emotionally very engaged with these characters, and I love spending time being in their world – just seeing what they’re up to, enjoying their ups and their downs. I hope the audience will feel the same way, and at the end, they’ll feel we got it right.”