Curious about how much Bridgerton has influenced pop culture? Just check out the music video for the late Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke’s single “Demeanor,” featuring British superstar Dua Lipa, which was released on Thursday. The video opens in a lavish room full of party-goers wearing powdered wigs, exaggerated petticoats, and ruffled sleeves and collars. The revellers are dancing, drinking, and feeding each other grapes off the vine. Midway through the three-plus-minute production, Lipa appears like a gift from the fashion heavens, descending a spiral staircase and cutting through the intoxicated crowd, dressed in a metallic corset from Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture ‘98 collection.
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Because of the Netflix drama’s overwhelming success, many were quick to tie the video’s opulent aesthetic to that of Bridgerton. But while her extravagant look — which also includes drop earrings and rings by Vram jewellery, an oversized black hair bow, and a larger-than-life skirt — certainly gives off the same energy as those worn by the cast did, in reality, it appears to be reminiscent of a much earlier period than the Regency era. Apart from the very modern details (electricity, for one!), the video pulls inspiration from the Baroque period, which started in the 1600s and ended in the mid-1700s, as well as the Rococo era, which capped off the Baroque chapter, ending in the 1770s. Think: rich colours, elaborate designs, and ultra luxurious fabrics. Those historical moments, and Sofia Coppola’s sumptuous Marie Antoinette, which was based on the French queen who died in 1793 and inspired Gaultier’s ‘98 collection.
Still, it’s impossible to ignore the effect Bridgerton has had on fashion and pop culture since its December 2020 release. Wedding trends in 2021 were full of corsets and details reminiscent of Bridgerton bashes, as were red carpet looks — Lipa wore a Vivienne Westwood corset dress with a pearl choker at the BRIT Awards, to name one. Corsets, elbow-length gloves, and hair bows have all appeared on runways and in street style as well. But this video takes the time-travel game to an even more outlandish level.
See all of the oh-so-familiar tropes of eras past in the music video for Pop Smoke’s “Demeanor,” featuring Lipa, below.
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