In Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, every costume tells a story—of love, loss, and the charming resilience of a beloved character. Costume designer Molly Emma Rowe masterfully blends timeless staples like miniskirts and cozy cardigans with a lived-in, thrifted feel that captures Bridget’s evolving journey. From carefully aging costumes to reflect years of wear, to honoring classic romcom style with playful confidence, the costumes perfectly embody Bridget’s personality and growth. Miniskirts, Cardigans, and Confidence: The Costume Design of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy reveals how Rowe’s thoughtful choices bring warmth and authenticity to this heartfelt sequel.
Spencer Williams: I am so happy to be here chatting with the costume designer for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, among many other projects—Molly Emma Rowe. Hey Molly, how are you?
Molly Emma Rowe: Hi Spencer! I’m good, thanks. How are you doing?
Spencer Williams: Doing great. It’s so good to finally talk to you—I’ve been looking forward to this. Let’s jump into Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. Bridget Jones has always been an icon in my household for as long as I can remember. She’s been a very prominent figure since the year 2000. So tell me—how did it feel stepping into a film that’s part of such a long-standing, iconic legacy?
Molly Emma Rowe: Honestly—terrifying! I grew up with Bridget Jones. I remember reading Helen Fielding’s columns—it always felt a bit risky. I used to squirrel off with my mum’s books and secretly read them. And when the first film came out, I think I was about 20 or 21. Bridget changed a lot of people’s lives. She gave a voice to those who felt like they didn’t have to be perfect, publicly. That was a really important message for me growing up.
So to take on the trust and responsibility of Bridget Jones… it was honestly horrifying.
Spencer Williams: Let’s talk about working with the great Renée Zellweger. I’d love to hear about how the two of you met, and what your collaboration looked like in developing Bridget’s costumes at this stage in her life. I can’t imagine sitting down with Renée to talk Bridget Jones—that sounds terrifying in itself.
Molly Emma Rowe: Oh, that was also terrifying! But what I’ve learned is that when I feel terrified, it usually means I really, really care—and what I’m doing matters. I feel a big sense of responsibility.
Working with Renée was incredibly exciting to even imagine, because she’s created a character that everyone—myself included—has fallen in love with over the past two decades. So the first thing I had to do was go back and rewatch everything.
I wanted to understand who Bridget was, without layering my own bias onto her. So many people identify with Bridget—they say, “I am Bridget,” or “I’ve done that,” and I think it was important for me to strip back what I thought was me about Bridget, because that’s not the case. I did a lot of rewatching—trying to view it like it was the first time, which is quite tricky.
Then I flew to LA to meet Renée. We talked through everything. I really wanted to understand who Bridget is to her, because she is her. We’re in a very unusual position: this is a film franchise where we see the same actress playing the same character over the span of twenty years. That’s rare. It felt important to really dive into the back catalogue of Bridget Jones.
Each of the previous three films had a different costume designer. And I really wanted to find a way to honour all of their contributions—because each of them helped create Bridget, alongside Renée, over time. This film needed to encapsulate and respect their work, while also giving us room to explore who Bridget is now. She’s in her fifties. There were so many layers to consider.
Contemporary costuming is often seen as simple—like you just pop into a shop and buy clothes. But with Bridget, it doesn’t feel like that at all. She’s existed for over 20 years. She really has existed. So, I contacted Universal to ask what they had kept in their archive from the earlier films. Unfortunately, not much.
But I was especially interested in anything they had from the first film. When we meet Bridget in Mad About the Boy, she’s deep in grief. It’s been four years. She’s not out shopping the high street—she’s just trying to get through the day.
I loved the idea that when people are feeling vulnerable or struggling, they naturally reach for clothes that feel nostalgic, comforting—things that evoke memories. Sometimes those memories are happy, sometimes they deepen the grief. So I was thrilled when Universal had a few pieces I could use.
There’s a grey, belted hooded coat—the one Bridget wears in the very first film, walking through the snow to her parents’ turkey curry buffet. She’s also wearing a hand-knitted scarf. And they had both of those pieces! I was like, “Please send them to me. Please.”
Also, fashion is cyclical. That’s something I think about a lot—I’m in my mid-forties, and there are things I wish I hadn’t gotten rid of. It felt very natural that Bridget would still have some of those pieces, and it made her wardrobe more believable. There’s also something lovely—and very Bridget—about reusing things. It speaks to sustainability and emotional attachment.
Spencer Williams: You mentioned that we check in on Bridget during a period of grief. She still carries that same positive, cheerful Bridget Jones energy, but you can tell she’s holding onto something. And I really feel like that shows through the clothes. So how did you go about conveying that mood through her costumes? What does grief look like for Bridget Jones?
Molly Emma Rowe: There were a few avenues I wanted to explore—one of them being palette. Bridget is such a fun, warm character—she brings so much light, kindness, and humour to everything she does. And I wanted to visually strip all of that away at the beginning.
So we chose a really subdued colour palette. We took out the brightness, and then used her story arc to bring her back to life visually over time. For me, the real turning point is when the Roxster comes to the TV studios to apologise.
She’s wearing these bright orange trousers, a patterned shirt, and a cardigan that completely clashes. It’s very Bridget. And in that moment, she’s so strong and so herself. She recognises that she has everything she needs, and she doesn’t have to make compromises anymore.
I think that moment—visually and emotionally—is really powerful. You can see it on Renée’s face too. The juxtaposition of her being so emotionally raw, while also coming back to life visually, was really exciting to explore.
Spencer Williams: That’s easily one of my favourite scenes in the entire film. It was so good. And fun, right? I have to admit—I cried quite a bit at the end of this. I was so irritated, like—ugh, I just ugly-cried for 15 minutes after the credits.
Molly Emma Rowe: Oh, we cried all the time while making it, to be honest. It was such a beautiful experience. And Renée is such an extraordinary actor—it’s impossible not to be right there with her, feeling everything she’s feeling.
Another thing I thought a lot about—my dad died when I was sixteen—and I remember how my mum would wear pieces from his wardrobe. His old shirts or jumpers, even his old Barbour jacket. There was something very comforting in that.
So I brought that idea to Renée and to our director, Michael Morris, and they really responded to it. A lot of this film is built from personal experiences, and I think that’s why it feels so emotional and whole—everyone brought their own stories, observations, and care.
The outfit Bridget wears to Hampstead Heath—that shirt is monogrammed. You can’t see it on screen, but it has “MD” for Mark Darcy stitched inside. It was something I put together for Renée, to help her really feel it. We even got to invent a little backstory—what does Mr. Darcy wear at home? Because we never really see him there, right? They get married, and then he’s suddenly not on screen.
Spencer Williams: He’s not enitrely in the film, but he still feels like such a central part of the story.
Molly Emma Rowe: Exactly. He feels very, very present. You feel him all the way through—and I think that really speaks to the experience of grief. That’s how I remember feeling—and sometimes still feel.
The way Michael managed to convey that, without Mark actually being there, is just extraordinary filmmaking.
Spencer Williams: Bridget Jones—due to advice from her friends and her doctor—decides to get back into the dating scene, which could be terrifying for anyone. But after she gets stuck in a tree, she meets Roxster (played by Leo Woodall). So tell me, how does that moment influence Bridget’s clothing as she moves forward? How does she begin to pick herself up out of the grief and put herself back out there?
Molly Emma Rowe: Yeah, I mean, I was very, very lucky. Once Renée and I started working together—she came over two or three weeks before filming—we had about a week where I’d see her for two or three hours every day. She was incredibly generous with her time, and we really tried to work it all out together. Because the thing is, with a film like this, once we started shooting, Renéeis in every single scene—apart from two. One of them is Hugh Grant driving, and the other is Hugh Grant on the phone to Bridget.
Spencer Williams: That’s such an important point.
Molly Emma Rowe: I felt this enormous pressure to have everything ready. The film spans over a year, and there are a lot of clothes in this movie. I wanted to build a wardrobe that felt like it genuinely belonged to Bridget—something we could draw from to piece together looks as the story progressed. That gave me a bit of freedom to create new outfits as needed, knowing they’d feel cohesive and true to her character—and that Renée would feel good about them too, seeing them hung in her trailer.
We actually did a bit of method costuming for this one. We went to all the local charity and consignment shops in the part of London where Bridget lives in the film. We started there because we wanted the wardrobe to reflect her world—and ideally from an earlier time. I really didn’t want anything new if I could help it. She’s not out buying clothes right now. Everything had to feel lived-in, familiar—like it had been in her closet for ages.
But I do think, once she meets Roxster, there’s this shift. He’s so youthful, kind, innocent, and playful. I really wanted him to appear timeless. It was important that their relationship felt authentic—and not visually jarring. So I thought a lot about those classic Hollywood leading men looks. He had to feel different from any man we’ve met in the Bridget Jones universe.
He couldn’t wear a suit. That was basically the rule.
Costume Illustrations by Louise Burrows
We have this beautiful montage where she’s wearing Roxster’s jacket from their first date. It’s playful, youthful. She’s wearing his clothes. They’re comfortable with each other. It feels easy and believable. There are a lot of subtle details like that in the film. You might not consciously notice them, but they help create a sense of reality. And that comes down to production design as well.
We wanted to bring back some of that youthful spirit, to show Bridget reawakening a bit. And honestly, when I asked myself, “What does Bridget like to wear?”—well, that woman loves a miniskirt and a little cardigan! Of course she does. That’s what she feels good in, that’s what she loves. And as we get older, we all become more confident about certain things and a bit unsure about others. Carrying through some of her classic silhouettes just felt right.
For her first date with Roxster, we have that wonderful moment where she walks out in the top—the “P.S. Your tits look great in that top” top—from the first film.
Spencer Williams: A classic!
Molly Emma Rowe: That top did not actually exist. I would like to make that clear! I spent the entire flight back from meeting Renée watching that scene over and over again. I don’t know what the rest of the plane thought I was doing, but I was just trying to work out what it was made of.
It’s not made from the material we ended up using, but what we used looked right on camera—and that’s what matters.
Spencer Williams: It is what it is!
Molly Emma Rowe: Exactly! And visually, I think the joke still works. If you’ve never seen a Bridget Jones film, it still makes sense. But if you have seen the first one, you know exactly what it is.
All of our little Easter eggs and callbacks were designed to sit in the scene quietly. They’re there for the people who notice them, but they don’t pull you out of the story. Everything had to sit naturally in the world.
Spencer Williams: One of my favorite aspects of costume design is clothing breakdown—making things feel aged and worn in. And I really felt that here. You could tell Bridget took care of her clothes, but she’s clearly had them for a while. Some even felt thrifted, like these are pieces she’s loved and kept over time. I’d love for you to talk more about aging the costumes and how you created the feeling that this really is Bridget Jones’s wardrobe—clothes she’s had for years, and not something she’s suddenly running out to replace just because she met a guy in a tree.
Molly Emma Rowe: Yeah, I think that’s actually one of the most important things to me—the breakdown department within costume. I mean, I can’t say they’re the most important or the rest of my team will come for me—but they’re certainly one of the most essential parts of our department.
I worked closely with Ocean Farini, who is incredibly talented. She just really gets that subtle level of wear, and we’ve worked together a lot, so we have a kind of shorthand. It was incredibly important to both of us that everything felt lived in and worn—not just Bridget’s things, but everyone’s.
That does put a lot of pressure on the breakdown team, especially when there’s not much time between a fitting and someone being on camera. But truly, everything in the film went through the process. We thrifted a lot of things, and I pulled some pieces from archive as well. It was a big mix.
Bridget wears a denim jacket on her first date with Roxster, and I was very intentional about that. I was thinking about what’s timeless—what’s something anyone can wear. A denim jacket is that piece. You can wear one when you’re two years old or when you’re a hundred, and every moment in between. There’s just something so accessible and classic about it. I wanted her to have that youthful energy, but in a very grounded, timeless way.
Spencer Williams: I totally agree—and I totally got that. And of course, we have to talk about Hugh Grant, who returns as the very dreamy Daniel Cleaver. I just have to ask—what was it like designing for a character who’s been capturing hearts for so many years? I mean, my mom is obsessed with Hugh Grant, probably because of this film. He doesn’t have many scenes, but the ones he does have—he really makes them count.
Molly Emma Rowe: Add that to the list of terrifying things—meeting and working with Hugh Grant! It was definitely intimidating. I mean, rom-coms are my passion, I grew up on them, and I grew up watching him. So having the responsibility of designing for an older Daniel Cleaver? Huge.
And it was interesting, because Daniel wasn’t in the last film—so the last time we saw him was about 20 years ago. I think that made it an interesting experience for Hugh as well, reprising this role after so long. I’m sure it made him reflect on who Daniel was back then, how he’s changed, how he’s changed. It’s a very unusual thing, for an actor to return to the same character with so much time in between.
So I took the same approach with Hugh as I did with Renée—I had to understand who Daniel Cleaver really was, and the only person who could tell me that was Hugh himself. He was very generous. We had a call— with me jokingly saying, “Please don’t be mean to me,” and of course he wasn’t. He’s the most charming person who’s ever walked the Earth.
We talked through Daniel’s character and the earlier films. Richard James, a Savile Row tailor, made Daniel’s suits and shirts for the first two films. His shirts had these famously deep collars—so when he wore them unbuttoned, they still framed his face without flopping open like a ‘70s disco shirt.
Unfortunately, Richard doesn’t cut suits anymore. But my tailor tracked down Ben Clark, who trained with Richard James. Ben had used that original cut before, so I thought it would be a lovely way to give Hugh that bit of legacy and continuity.
Spencer Williams: That’s incredible.
Molly Emma Rowe: He understands the process of bespoke tailoring and how much time it takes. He was incredibly generous with his time—Ben and I would go see him every few weeks over two months. It was honestly the best afternoon of my life every time—he’s so smart, so engaged, so curious. I learned so much from him.
We also talked about whether his silhouette should feel a bit tragic now—but I was very adamant that it shouldn’t. I always felt like he should just look brilliant. And I think he does. He also suggested wearing glasses sometimes, to hint at aging and vulnerability, and I thought that was a fantastic idea. We incorporated them—and I mean, they look very becoming, if you ask me.
Spencer Williams: I mean, it’s the same man—he’s still Daniel Cleaver. He may be older, but he’s holding on to that composure we’ve always loved him for. He’s still in there.
And that brings us to the end. Looking back at Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, what has this film meant to you, Molly?
Molly Emma Rowe: I feel incredibly proud to have been trusted with it. Our director, Michael Morris, is a really special human being—an incredibly magical storyteller. So to have been able to make this film with him was just… very, very special.
And every single person involved—I’ve honestly never experienced collaboration quite like this. There was so much personal experience that people felt free to share. It became a very emotional experience. And also, truly one of the most joyful filmmaking experiences I’ve ever had.
London is my hometown, and it’s rare that you get to shoot something in London in that way—closing Tower Bridge and filming all around the city. You’ve got to have some kind of movie to be able to do that.
Spencer Williams: Right!
Molly Emma Rowe: I actually watched Mission: Impossible today and was like, “Okay, yeah—they closed the whole thing too.” But for me, it really felt like a home match.
And it was special because this is a film I grew up with. I’ve always said, to anyone who’s asked, that my dream was to make a rom-com. I never imagined it would be the rom-com. So yeah… I still don’t think it feels entirely real, to be honest.
Spencer Williams: Well, it’s very real—and you should be so proud of yourself. It’s such a fantastic film. I’m already planning to go back and watch all of them again. I’m officially obsessed with Bridget Jones now—she is my icon. I’m sold. I love it.
Congratulations, Molly. This has been fantastic. I am so, so happy for you! Thank you so much for talking with me.
Molly Emma Rowe: Thank you so, so much.
