Claudia Jessie On Being Back For Bridgerton: ‘There’s A Real Air Of Gratitude And Relief’

Claudia Jessie, aka Eloise in Bridgerton, knew the Netflix drama was going to be a success. But she had no idea just how much of a success - as even the actress was shocked by how much of a 'cultural phenomenon' the show became, with the likes of the Kardashians and Mila Kunis becoming fans. 'You know it's not going to be a flop, right? Because it's Shondaland{ =nofollow}[TV legend Shonda Rhimes' production company] and Netflix,' Claudia laughs on the phone to Grazia, speaking from her house boat in Birmingham. 'And because of how beautiful everything was: the costumes, and the wigs, and the hair, and the phenomenal sets. But it's certainly not within my nature to have thought it was going to become what it did.'

Now, following a third lockdown, Claudia is back filming series two of the Netflix hit. And while she's delighted to be back, she says the experience has understandably been very strange. 'It was quite bizarre considering in between series one and two, there was a global pandemic, so it was quite the eventful time,' she says. 'For me, I just feel like so many people lost so much. And it was so difficult for all of us. Now I'm back working and I look at us all, and I look at the crew, and how happy we all are to be back. We're a very, very happy, joyful set, and we're very chilled out. So it does feel like we would have been really happy anyway. However, it does feel like there's an air of real gratitude and relief.'

Complete freedom - when we go out to nightclubs, festivals or have house parties - might have been pushed back, but a lot of us are already planning what we're finally going to wear when the government tell us social distancing is being relaxed. And Claudia has teamed up with children's charity Barnardo's to encourage people to be more sustainable with their fashion choices for when lockdown is lifted. (As well as raising vital funds for charity, of course.)

Shopping in charity stores isn't a new thing for Claudia - she often wears charity finds to red carpet events - as it's something which has been instilled in her from a young age by her mother, Dawn (who she calls her pre-loved fashion icon). 'We didn't have much money growing up and charity shops were the most reasonable option, I think,' she says. 'But my mum's always recycled, reused, restored and repaired. So if any of our clothes got holes, which still happens now, my mum will stitch it up.' She says that, at a young age, she felt a stigma with shopping at charity shops, but that, luckily, that changed as she got older and continued to shop for vintage finds secondhand.

'I was probably more self conscious of it then, regressively,' she admits. 'But I guess as a child, and you don't really know what's going on, you just know that you're not going to Gap, like the rest of your mates. But when I got into my teens, I didn't have money. And then, getting into my early 20s, I still didn't have money. And charity shops would be a great place for me to get cheap clothes,' she explains.

'But also I think I'd like to explore a bit more with like fashion. I was obsessed with vintage stuff, I was obsessed with sort of the old lady floral patterns and like Paisley stuff. And you find a lot of that in charity shops,' she adds, adding that her favourite charity shop finds include a Calvin Klein pinstripe suit and a pink jumpsuit with a paisley pattern.

Claudia also thinks there has been more of a 'cultural shift', meaning more people now happily shop at charity shops, whether that's for sustainability, cost or creative reasons. 'I wonder if there's been a bit of a cultural shift, as well as not just seeing it as somewhere you go if you cannot afford other things,' she says. 'I think we're becoming a bit less attached to consumerism.'

The actress is also probably looking forward to dressing up a bit when everything re-opens, as she admits during lockdown that, while she wished she dressed up, she would spend most of the time in a pair of pyjama bottoms her stepdad gave her, even if she was wearing a nice vintage jumper on Zoom for Bridgerton press junkets. Totally relatable tbh - Claudia is our lockdown hero.

Claudia is encouraging shoppers to buy secondhand for their end of lockdown outfits with Barnado's. Shop her edit here

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