The New Regency Drama: Siân Jenkins On Creating Costumes For The Other Bennet Sister

Our all-time cultural guilty pleasure? A good period drama. And this year, we’re being spoilt with not one, but three Jane Austen adaptations set to release before the end of 2026. First out of the gate is the BBC’s The Other Bennet Sister, an alternative perspective on Austen’s Pride & Prejudice where historically sidelined Mary Bennet takes centre stage. But, as most of us know, only half of the joy comes from the story itself – the other comes from the beautiful period costumes we see on screen. And behind The Other Bennet Sister‘s beautiful display of empire-waist gowns, bonnets and (rails upon rails) of ribbons is costume designer Siân Jenkins.

With all episodes of The Other Bennet Sister now streaming, we took a moment to check in Jenkins to talk about her experience working on the show.

Siân Jenkins On Creating Costumes For The Other Bennet Sister

Lizzie Bennet (Poppy Gilbert), Charlotte Lucas (Anna Fenton-Garvey), Mary Bennet (Ella Bruccoleri), Jane Bennet (Maddie Close), Kitty Bennet (Molly Wright) & Lydia Bennet (Grace Hogg-Robinson) in The Other Bennet Sister. (BBC/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)

Hi Sian, how’s life going right now?

Life is good thanks – I’ve just started a new project so things are very busy.

The Other Bennet Sister is now on screens – how does it feel to see your work come to life with this project?

It’s so lovely to see everyone’s hard work come to life and also such a good feeling when you read the feedback of how viewers are loving the show.

And how does the show compare with other jobs you’ve taken on in your career?

The Other Bennet Sister is the first Regency project I’ve designed, so its different to many of my other projects. Part of my love for what I do is that no two pieces of work are the same, but its always exciting when you are offered a period piece.

How would you describe your relationship with the world of Jane Austen?

I’m a lover of her work, but more in a visual sense – from TV shows and films that I’ve seen. I read a few of her novels when I was younger, but I’m very much a viewer rather than a reader now.

Mr Hayward (Dónal Finn) and as Mary Bennet (Ella Bruccoleri) in The Other Bennet Sister. (BBC/Bad Wolf)

There have been multiple Pride & Prejudice adaptations (and spin-offs) over the years – what makes The Other Bennet Sister stand out?

I feel The Other Bennet Sister is a new story that nobody knows. Mary [Ella Bruccoleri] has never had a voice before, so it’s a fresh look at the Bennet family who everyone knows and loves.

Many creatives working with Austen novels like to put their own visual spin on her stories – the colourful costumes in Emma (2020) and the more dressed-down neutrals of Pride & Prejudice (2005), for example, are visually recognisable on their own. Would you say The Other Bennet Sister has its own visual markers when it comes to the costumes?

I think the design of the costumes is different from other visual media we’ve seen in this period, purely based on the character that takes centre stage in this narrative. Mary’s journey starts with very neutral tones, which is familiar – but then as she gains confidence her story also becomes visually vibrant through her costumes, so we’ve been able to push the palette and fabrics for her looks.

We also wanted to give the show a fresh look by designing costumes with contemporary fabrics, but still make it feel true to the period with the silhouettes.

What was the process of planning costumes for the show like? Can you run us through your mood board?

My process starts with lots of research. From reading the script I’ll start thinking of where we can take the tone of the costumes. What colours feel right for the story. Then I’ll start putting mood boards together for the worlds within the show. For The Other Bennet Sister we had Longbourne, London, the Lakes and Pemberley – and we wanted them all to have a different feel, so together with the show’s production designer [Tim Dickel] we planned out the palette for each space. From there, I was able to focus on the characters and the journeys that they go on.

As part of the process, I also met with the directors [Jennifer Sheridan and Asim Abbasi] to discuss what they were thinking, and worked with an illustrator to start sketching out the characters’ costumes for the silhouette and colour options. It was around this time that we also started sourcing fabrics to look at prints and textures, before finalising the designs

Tanya Reynolds (Caroline Bingley) in The Other Bennet Sister. (BBC/Bad Wolf)

Did you find yourself gravitating to certain colour palettes, prints or silhouettes?

I knew quite early on once I’d started to research the period and the characters that I wanted the sisters to all have their own colour that followed them through the story. There was a lot of embroidery used in Regency clothing and a lot of floral designs of wild flowers, and I was drawn to using the flowers as a palette for the sisters – Jane’s clothes followed a pink palette based on wild rose, there was blue cornflower for Lizzie, Kitty’s wardrobe was made up of purples inspired by wild iris, and Lydia was this lovely yellow from wild primrose – with Mrs Bennet taking on all of the sisters’ colours within her world, as she wants to retain her youth.

While we were designing new costumes, we were also hiring a lot of them. So I also used these existing pieces as a bit of a reference point; I wanted to use prints that sat within the existing wardrobes we had access to so everything worked together.

Tell us about Mary – what was it like building her character through costume?

I loved working on Mary’s journey. It was fun to design a character that has such a evolution through their costume. Starting with her in the beige and muted tones, to when she blooms and finds herself in London with Mrs Gardiner [Indira Varma] which gives her confidence to take risks with her clothes and be herself.

Jane Bennet (Maddie Close), Lydia Bennet (Grace Hogg-Robinson), Lizzie Bennet (Poppy Gilbert), Mary Bennet (Ella Bruccoleri) & Kitty Bennet (Molly Wright) in The Other Bennet Sister. (BBC/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)

What were some of the most fun characters to create?

I really enjoyed designing all the characters. Aside from the fun I had designing Mary and being able to push the colours and prints as far as possible, I loved being able to create a new Mrs Bennet with Ruth [Jones]. Caroline Bingley [Tanya Reynolds] and Mrs Gardiner were great fun too. It’s always nice when you can make costumes for a show and still be able to have total creative control of the process.

And were there any that proved a challenge for you as a costume designer?

I think the challenge we always have is time – especially when we are making costumes! But one of the fun challenges we had was creating Regency pregnancy dresses for Lydia [Grace Hogg-Robinson].

Mr. Bennet (Richard E Grant) and Mrs. Bennet (Ruth Jones) in The Other Bennet Sister. (BBC/Bad Wolf)

Please could you break down three looks from the show that you love?

This is difficult as there are so many looks! I love:

Look 1: Mary’s Longbourne Look. We see this in the very first episode of the show. I wanted to use a fabric with an original print from the period within our contemporary prints, and we found one that came from Hopkins in London who do reproductions. I wanted Mary to start her journey in beige and be innocent, so she appeared neutral amongst her sisters.

Look 2: Mary’s Governess Outfit. A bit later, in episode three, we see Mary step into the role of governess. There’s a little bit of an Easter egg here: the grey check dress is a nod to the check pinafore that Mary wears in the 1995 version of Pride & Prejudice.

Look 3: Caroline Bingley At The Lakes. This one is from episode nine, during a trip to the Lakes. The red coat and hat we made for Caroline were inspired by Regency hunting looks. I also loved the colour within the scenery, so we added a claw brooch that not-so-subtly signifies Caroline trying to get her own claws into Mr. Ryder.

Mr Gardiner (Richard Coyle) and Mrs Gardiner (Indira Varma) in The Other Bennet Sister. (BBC/Bad Wolf)

Any fun behind-the-scenes stories from the process that you can tell us about?

We had lots of fun creating this show – from the fitting rooms to when we were shooting. Lots of laughs had with our fantastic cast – fitting Grace [Hogg-Robinson] with a huge pregnancy bump and thinking about how we could get it to work as she’s so petite.

Then there was creating our Mr. Darcy moment in episode eight, which involved wetsuits and breeches…

What would you like audiences to take away from watching The Other Bennet Sister?

I would like them to feel joy, and see that they should always be themself – this is a message I really hope resonates with our younger viewers. Be confident in who you are and don’t try and change to please others.

WATCH

All episode of The Other Bennet Sister are now streaming on BBC iPlayer. bbc.co.uk