10 Wardrobe Easter Eggs inBridget Jones: Mad About the Boy— Including Touching Nods to Mark Darcy (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Renee Zellweger and Leo Woodall in ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’.Photo:Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures

Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures

Warning: Some spoilers forBridget Jones: Mad About the Boyahead.

Bridget Jones is back in action inBridget Jones: Mad About the Boyand the fourth film in the franchise couldn’t possibly be filled with more Easter eggs if it tried.

Renée Zellwegerreprises her role as the beloved Bridget, 23 years after the first movie debuted. In the latest installment, Bridget finds herself cautiously re-entering the dating scene four years after losing her husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). That’s when she meets Roxster (Leo Woodall), aka “the boy,” who sparks joy in her again.

The movie, streaming exclusively on Peacock now, is full of laughs, tears and everything in between — and takes Bridget fans back in time to all three of the previous movies in the franchise through callbacks and Easter eggs. Many of those come through in Bridget’s wardrobe, which costume designer Molly Emma Rowe shared exclusively with PEOPLE. Ahead, see a breakdown of 10 touching wardrobe moments that you don’t want to miss.

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Sketch of Bridget Jones.Courtesy Molly Emma Rowe

Courtesy Molly Emma Rowe

Bridget’s Sheer Top and Black Bra Combo Makes a Comeback

When Bridget is getting ready for her first date with Roxster, she briefly considers wearing a sheer top with a black bra underneath and Shazza immediately shuts her down. If the outfit looks familiar, it’s because it’s a callback to an outfit Bridget wore in the first film while flirting with Daniel Cleaver.

The original top is lost, but Rowe tried to recreate it for the fourth film. “I spent so much time — a whole flight back from L.A. — literally just watching that scene to try and work out what fabric it was, how it was cut, how it was made,” Rowe says. “I’m pretty sure it was probably something from Topshop that was bought in 2001. I’m sure they didn’t think that nearly 30 years later it would be a legacy look. It’s not exactly the same, and I know it’s not the same, but we had a load of different variations that then we camera tested and we were like, ‘Yes, this one looks the most like it.'”

Renee Zellweger in ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’.Jay Maidment / Universal Pictures

Jay Maidment / Universal Pictures

The Infamous Granny Pants Make an Appearance

There’s an ongoing joke throughout the films about Bridget’s “granny pants” after Daniel pokes fun at her for them in the first movie. Also while getting ready for her first date with Roxster, Bridget pulls her old reliables out of her drawer before tucking them back away in favor of a pair of lace panties.

“They’ve been dealt with so nicely because it’s a real mark of how women’s standards have changed, I think because she looks at them and, ‘No, I’m going to wear this,’ and it’s a message I think, but a good one,” Rowe says.

Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones’s Diary.FlixPix / Alamy

FlixPix / Alamy

Bridget’s Necklace Has a Hidden Nod to Mark

Throughout all the films, Bridget has worn a Tiffany & Co. heart necklace, but inMad About the Boy, the necklace looks a bit different. Rowe made a small addition to the necklace to nod to Mark’s death and make it feel modern.

Bridget’s Gray Jacket Is a Rewear

Rowe was choosy about which pieces she actually brought back from previous films, partially because some of it was gone and partially because the movies were made so many years ago. But one piece she did unearth was the gray jacket from the very first scene of the first film. She put it on Bridget for the beginning of this movie, too.

“The jacket that she wears over the green dress [at the beginning ofMad About the Boy] is actually the jacket from the first film that she wears in the very first scene when we meet Bridget on her way to the turkey curry buffet, so that was a really nice thing,” Rowe says. “I got it out of the archives because I think fashion is cyclical. I think that we reach for things that we liked. We come across them in our wardrobe, and you give them a whirl, and it felt like a nice thing to do.”

Colin Firth and Renee Zellweger in ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’.Jay Maidment/Universal Pictures

The Green Dress in the First Scene Is a Nod to Another Significant Green Dress

“Renée and I really wanted a green dress,” Rowe says. “So Mark appears in that sequence [in Bridget’s imagination], and Bridget wears a green dress in the third film when she’s at Jude’s son’s christening. She and Mark get together, and that’s when she conceives Billy. So that was a really subtle thing and Renée and I really liked the idea of that because Mark was in that sequence with her.”

Bridget’s New Year’s Headband Is a Hint

Even Bridget’s headband at the New Year’s Even get-together is a little hat tip to past Bridget, because as Rowe says, “Bridget is Bridget.”

“She’s wearing a headband in the New Year’s Eve scene with silver balls, which was just a little tiny reference to the headband she’s wearing when she’s drunk and singing karaoke in the first movie.”

‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’.Alex Bailey / Universal Pictures

Alex Bailey / Universal Pictures

Bridget Running Out into the Snow to Chase Mr. Wallaker Mirrors the Last Time She Did It

The climax of the first film sees Bridget chasing Mark out into the snow while she’s in her tiger-print underwear and a tiny shirt with a button-up shirt over it. Though it still takes them another two whole movies to figure their lives out and get together, it was the start of something beautiful — and that scene is one of the most memorable of the whole franchise.

The end ofMad About the Boyfinds Bridget running out into the snow yet again, this time chasing Mr. Wallaker, but this time, she had a few more clothes on than the last. For Rowe, this outfit was “super important” for her to get right.

“She couldn’t stop and get her coat. The same motivation is there, and I bought some tiger-print skirts like the tiger-print knickers, I thought about designing a skirt, and I was like, ‘No, no, no. What are you doing?'” Rowe says. “I explored a lot of things, and actually what I settled on was the blouse in the same color as the vest top that she’s wearing when she sees Mark.”

Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth in ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’.Maximum Film / Alamy Stock Photo

Maximum Film / Alamy Stock Photo

The outfit Rowe put together is more grown up and subdued, which makes sense for the point in life that Bridget is now — and it suits the speech that Mr. Wallaker makes.

“Bridget’s really found herself, and she’s really living Bridget Jones’ ‘It’s time to live’ motto. And she’s doing that on her own with her friends and with her kids and with her support network. So she’s standing very, very strong in that scene. Even though she’s freezing and it’s snowing, it’s a very different dynamic. It’s really magical.”

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renee Zellweger in ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’.Jay Maidment / Universal Pictures

Even Daniel’s Son Gets in on the Callbacks

Bridget Still Has Her Penguin Pajamas

Bridget’s penguin PJs have stood the test of time and are still here inMad About the Boy. You’ll see them when Bridget is dancing while getting ready one morning before her kids join her — quite the stark contrast from when she wears them previously to throw herself a pity party. She even keeps them on to leave the house, owning up to her slightly unkempt ways (and unfortunately this is when one of Mabel’s friends mistakes Bridget for her granny when they arrive at school).

Renee Zellweger in ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’.AJ Pics / Alamy

AJ Pics / Alamy

Billy Brings Back His Dad’s Ugly Christmas Sweater

When Bridget and Mark first reconnect as adults in the 2001 movie, Mark’s wearing a green Christmas jumper with a huge reindeer on it. The jumper makes a comeback at the end ofMad About the Boyon Mark’s young son Billy, who is wearing the (oversize on him) sweater at the New Year’s Eve party.

source: people.com