What to Wear to a Bridgerton Brunch

Are you a fan of the Netflix Regency romance series Bridgerton? I always enjoy a good period drama and was completely on board with this alternative history story since its debut on Christmas Day 2020. They have released each season in a fairly sporadic way with season 2 premiering on March 25, 2022. Season 3 was released in two parts on May 16 and June 13, 2024, followed by season 4 which was also released in two parts on January 29 and February 26, 2026. There was also a spin-off series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, which premiered on May 4, 2023.

I watched the first three seasons and the spin-off on my own until I discovered that my husband’s work friend Viky is also a big fan of Bridgerton and other period dramas. I used to refer to her as just that…”my husband’s work friend Viky”, but I suppose she’s my friend Viky now!

I’m going off track here for a minute…Do you all know how hard it is to make new friends at this stage of life? It’s really difficult! For me, at least. People are unpredictable and overly dramatic and often untrustworthy. I’ve been burned so many times by “good friends” that I now have a pretty high wall built around myself and it takes a really special person for me to let them in. Despite being 20 years younger than me, Viky and I share a lot in common besides Bridgerton and a beautiful new friendship is blossoming because of it. Viky, if you’re reading, thanks for being an awesome friend. I am blessed to have met you!

Back to Bridgerton. For the first of our fourth season watch parties (it is still a party even if there are just two people, right?), Viky came to my house and I made a little lunch buffet of Bridgerton inspired finger foods and desserts. We smoked from my beautiful Grandma’s Bong, which is so perfectly Bridgerton-esque that I renamed it Miss B. and I only bring her out for Bridgerton parties now!

Viky hosted our second watch party and then we continued to take turns until we completed season 4. The episodes run from 52–73 minutes each so we usually only watch two episodes each time. We take lots of smoking and snacking breaks so those two episodes generally take us about 4-5 hours to finish.

A few weeks ago, we got together at my house for our last watch party of season 4 and I decided it might be fun to create a Bridgerton-inspired outfit for the occasion. I didn’t tell Viky, I just got myself dressed for the day, but we were thinking for our upcoming seasons 5 and 6 watch parties maybe we should get dressed up. And another one of Jeff’s work friends, Heavenly, is interested in joining us. So Bridgerton party of 3 will be kicking off season 5 sometime in 2027!

For my Bridgerton-inspired outfit, I combined a new blue and white gingham chiffon dress with a new white floral eyelet duster. The long maxi dress with the cute blue ruffled trim seemed to really suit the Bridgerton vibe with a modern day twist.

I piled on a bunch of pearl and beaded necklaces and bracelets, added a pair of triple pearl drop earrings, and topped it off with my lavender and white straw cloche hat. There is no other lavender in my outfit but the soft shade blends nicely with the blue gingham and the pink floral prints. Plus if you combine pink and light blue, you’ll get some shade of lavender so it’s perfectly coordinated! Finally, my new Furkenstocks in antique white are making their debut blog appearance even though I have been wearing them with much frequency since they arrived a few weeks ago. I also brought out my vintage gold beaded bag. It’s vintage in that I bought it new over 20 years ago. I can’t remember where I got it but it’s just so pretty that I keep for special occasions.

I rarely wear bracelets even though I have two jewelry armoire drawers filled with them. I love the look of a dramatic bracelet stack but I often find them uncomfortable, claustrophobic, and just plain old tedious for daily wear. So it’s a rare occasion that you will see me wearing arm jewelry. The same for rings. I simply cannot stand the sensation of a metal band snugly encompassing the circumference of my finger. I ditched rings years ago, including my wedding ring, because that sensation can literally send me into a panic mode of claustrophobia. And there is no need for our fashion choices to cause us anxiety. That’s just ridiculous. So no rings for me and only occasional bracelet wearing.

Women’s clothing in the Regency era (1795-1837) shifted away from the heavy, structured, and corseted gowns of the 18th century in favor of the lightweight, high-waisted styles of classical Greek and Roman fashion. Key components of women’s fashion during this era included empire waists, low necklines, long column silhouettes, and fabrics such as batiste, lightweight silks, and sheer cottons like muslin and voile. While white was the most common color for women’s gowns during this era, they were often layered with bright outerwear in bold color palettes and interesting prints. Women of this era adored prints including stripes, dots, checks, Indian block prints, and florals.

My Bridgerton outfit seems to incorporate all of those Regency era details from the long flowing silhouette to the empire waist, the low cut neckline, the chiffon fabric, and the mixture of checkered and floral prints. However, the pearl piles around my neck and wrists would have been considered vulgar by Regency era women. Instead, they favored minimalist jewelry with pearls of any sort being reserved for formal evening occasions.

But I’m not a true Regency woman. I am a Gen X’er through and through…fiercely independent, pragmatic, genuinely authentic with a can-do attitude and an “I will wear what I want” mentality. And I like pearl piles for any time of day no matter how vulgar another generation may have considered them!

I really enjoyed this wearing this feminine flowy outfit with my excessive amount of jewelry, but you know that I much prefer my trademark bohemian cowgirl aesthetic. So I took this outfit and turned it boho with just a few changes to my accessories. Stop by tomorrow to see how I transitioned this look from Bridgerton to Boho.

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee