Netflix’s Bridgerton leading ladies have descended upon the Tate Morden in London on Tuesday evening, March 22, swapping their Regency-style corsets and frilly dresses for jaw-dropping high-fashion looks for the star-studded red carpet premiere of the hotly-anticipated first screening of the period drama.
Fresh face Simone Ashley, 26, who plays Kate Sharma, wore a stunning monochrome look by Gucci. Her fit figure was accentuated by the structured white crop top with lace sleeves and a matching lace skirt.
The star paired her look with bold orange eye shadow and dangling diamond Gucci earrings, and wore her onyx black hair down her back.
Fellow co-star, Charithra Chandran, 25, who plays Kate’s sister Edwina, also proved she didn’t need 19th-century diamonds and lace to make an entrance.
The young actress looked sensational in a statement polka-dot gown adorned with bright-red flowers by Carolina Herrera.
The sleeveless dress featured a ruffled bodice and massive statement sleeves which fluttered out into a massive train. Tying the look together, Chandran wore cherry-red lipstick and Christian Louboutin Loubiloo strappy black sandals.
While the on-screen sisters turned heads on the red carpet, early reviews of Bridgerton have revealed that the scandalous sex scenes have been taken down a notch.
Television critics have claimed that while the character’s sexual tension is “overwhelming,” the scenes that may have gotten audiences hot under the collar last season have fallen flat.
According to Variety reviewer Caroline Franke, this season is a “long and relatively chaste version of the trope” of forbidden love. Saying when “lead characters succumb to their passions” it was “gratifying”, but “frantically filmed.”
And though she heaped praise on the performances of leads Jonathan Baily and Ashley she said the current season “too often feels like a luxurious carriage stuck in the mud, spinning its wheels before eventually heaving itself back on the road.”
In agreement, Kristen Baldwin from Entertainment Weekly said while the “sex montages,” were lacking it was anything but “chaste.”
The Hollywood Reporter reviewer Angie Han added that while “Kate and Anthony may not have the burning carnal connection of Daphne and Simon, their story scratches a different, almost equally satisfying itch”.
But she did say it lacked “the rampant horniness that made season one such a pleasure to watch”.
Bridgerton was a massive success for Netflix, having previously held the record for the streaming site’s largest series debut before Squid Game.
Bridgerton is now available for streaming on Netflix.