Inside the "masculine 'I’m back' glow-up" of Colin Bridgerton for Netflix's season 3 return

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Colin Bridgerton has always been the baby boy of the Bridgerton clan, but in the upcoming third season of Netflix's revisionist hit period drama he's becoming a man - in words, in action, and also in wardrobe.

In our conversation with Bridgerton costume designer John Glaser ahead of season 3's debut, we learned about what is being done for Luke Newton's character as he steps up from supporting character into co-star and central love interest for the season, sharing the stage with Nicola Coughlan's Penelope Featherington.

"For Colin, he was always a pretty-boy, and he always wore light colors, pretty colors. We put him on the road and he’s matured. He was a boy and now he’s a man, really," Glaser told Gavia Baker-Whitelaw. "He has a wonderful, very distinctive coat that I think people are going to be talking about."

The coat is based on something very much not British - and not even European. Instead, the inspiration for the coat is something deeply American: the Marlboro Man.

"That’s based on an Australian outback coat, and the Marlboro Man. The guy that rides a horse in the Westerns, to give him that swagger," says Glaser. "It’s because he himself is older, and he has more confidence because of traveling. Season 1, he couldn't have pulled it off, but now he can. And we wanted to give him a glow-up that wasn't a pretty glow-up like Penelope. It’s a masculine, 'I’m back' glow-up."

When asked about working with the actors on their wardrobe, Glaser explains that for Luke Newton there had to be special steps to get him accustomed to his new look.

"With Luke, we had to try that long coat on, and we had to have… not lessons, but we practiced how that coat could work before we went forward," Glaser says. "Otherwise we would have found something else to give that same effect. But once he put those clothes on, he fell right into that new character style and off he went."

Bridgerton season 3 part 1 debuts May 16 on Netflix. You can read our full interview with Bridgerton costume designer John Glaser here.

Whether its the bane of your existence or the object of all your desires (or both), Bridgerton is back. Read all our spoiler-y thoughts on Bridgerton season 3 here, and then delight at a guide to how to watch all of Bridgerton (and the spinoff), an our exclusive interview with the show's costume designer John Glaser, as well as some recommended reads for all Bridgerton fans.