Why Does Penelope Wear Yellow in Bridgerton? The Hidden Meaning Explained
Bridgerton has come along and given the color yellow a much deeper meaning.
Many associate yellow with friendship and happiness, but for Penelope Featherington, the meaning is very different.
Bridgerton costume designer Ellen Mirojnik explained that Penelope’s yellow wardrobe is very deliberate and symbolic.
Penelope appears in yellow more than any other Bridgerton character, and whilst the color was extremely fashionable and favorable among high society in the Regency Era, it’s not the reason she wears it.
Penelope’s character wears yellow because it symbolizes deceit and dishonesty.
When we first meet Penelope, it becomes apparent that she is keeping a dark secret, and at the end of the first season, she is revealed to be none other than the loathed, and loved gossip columnist that goes by the name ‘Lady Whistledown.’ Penelope was dressed in yellow the entire first season to subtly point to the fact that she was hiding something, and successfully deceiving everyone around her.
Besides hinting at her big secret, the color yellow is also used to symbolize new life, (or in Penelope’s case a double life) intellect, and enlightenment, which are attributes associated with Lady Whistledown and her ability to observe society around her, and her insightful, captivating writing.
The color yellow may have been the focus of Penelope’s wardrobe, but it wasn’t used exclusively for her character.
Marina wore a yellow dress after Colin proposed to her, and interestingly this is one of the few times Penelope does not wear yellow. Marina was in yellow to symbolize an act of deceit, as during the time she was hiding her illicit pregnancy and marrying Colin in a bid to convince everyone around her that he was the father before her pregnancy showed.
The color yellow has also been used as a way to link others to Penelope.
News is out that Season 3 of Bridgerton will follow Colin and Penelope’s story, and looking back at the very first season, it could be no coincidence that Colin was the first Bridgerton sibling to be seen wearing yellow, many fans think this was a subtle hint at his future love life, a link to Penelope.
In Season 2, during the Pall Mall scene, the only two characters playing with yellow mallets are Colin and Eloise, which represents the relationship each has with Penelope, and this came after Colin had been hovering his hand over the yellow mallet as if to claim it as his own.
Season 2 also saw a shift in Penelope’s colors as she began wearing less yellow, suggesting that she no longer desired to deceive those around her.
No Bridgerton character's outfit is chosen by accident, there is a reason behind everything, right down to the colors. There is true magic behind the subtle little hints and attention to the smallest details, and going into Season 3 we will be looking forward to more clues, and looking closely at every color.