Regal style: The story behind Jenna Coleman’s opulent look in series two of Victoria

Jenna Coleman's second reign in the hit ITV drama Victoria comes to an end tonight and, as the series has developed to show the changes in the young Queen’s life, her wardrobe has had to adapt, too.

“Over the course of series two we cover six years, starting just after the birth of [her first child] Princess Victoria in 1840,” Rosalind Ebbutt, the series’ costume designer tells The Telegraph. “Victoria is now married, established as Queen and has had a baby, so she's a young woman not a teenager.”

Victoria’s style has also moved with the trends of the times, adopting the prettier, more refined silhouettes synonymous with the 1840s and abandoning some of the the pomp associated with her coronation look from the previous decade. “The more exaggerated, romantic shapes of the 1830’s have been left well behind and we’re definitely doing clothes of the 1840s,” Ebbutt, who has also worked as a costume designer on other period dramas like Anna Karenina, Vanity Fair and Downton Abbey, explains. “They've got a waistline, bell-shaped skirts and tighter sleeves - what you would think of as a typical early Victorian woman.”

Ebbutt takes care to interpret, rather than copy, the real Queen Victoria’s outfits for the small screen, emulating some of her most recognisable looks but allowing for a little creative license. Following last season’s epic coronation gown, this series has had plenty of opportunities for a wow moment - notably her christening look.

“We decided not to do a direct copy because we had her cream wedding dress and I didn't want to do another cream one,” Ebbutt explains of the adaptations she made to Victoria’s original christening look. “We found the palest ice blue brocade that looked so great on film and then we more or less made it the same shape as we can see in the painting [of the actual Queen at the christening].

“I always go with colours that Jenna likes and that will suit her, as well as being ones that look like a version of what you would see Queen Victoria in,” she says. “We have an overall mood board and colour palette for this series - blues, soft peaches, cream and some lilac.”

Ebbutt says that, while the Queen may not have had Instagram, or even magazines, to give her new ideas about style, she was still totally informed about which shades and silhouettes were in and out. “I wouldn't have said she was cutting edge or an initiator of fashion, but she was a very fashionable figure, there's a slight difference,” she considers. “She was inspired by fashion plates [illustrations] of the period, and various French and English firms specialised in publishing them. Queen Victoria would have looked at them just as people now look online or in fashion magazines.

Outfitting Coleman in period dress for an eight-part series is quite a feat, and Ebbutt says that she uses a mix of sourced pieces from vintage and costume shops, as well as making some bespoke dresses. “She does have about 30 outfits over the eight episodes, which is a fair amount, but probably nothing compared to what Queen Victoria would have owned,” she laughs. “It's quite dull if people wear the same thing all the time on TV - it's the code for a viewer that a new dress means a new day, or that a new event is going to happen.”

One of the key pieces that she stumbled upon in a costume shop ahead of this series was an embroidered jacket, worn by Coleman in several scenes, including for the ‘churching’ ceremony which she takes part in after the birth of her first daughter. “That was a happy charm,” Ebbutt says. “I found it and thought its embroidery was absolutely perfect. We tweaked it a little bit, just slightly took it in, and the shape works nicely with a skirt and a blouse.

Styling is a key consideration, Ebbutt says, as she can’t suddenly be seen to drop a more modern accessory into a scene, shattering the period illusion. It’s more berthas and bonnets than It bags. “A bertha is a collar, a low-hanging lace neckline on a gown which a woman’s maid would take on and off for her,” Ebbutt explains, “I have a lot of original lace and we find and rent them too. They wouldn’t wear precious jewellery in the day - more spectacular pieces are kept for the evenings - and you shouldn’t mix diamonds and pearls. There are lots of old fashioned rules like that.”

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