Why does Serena wear pink in The Handmaid's Tale season 6?

The following content contains major spoilers for the first three episodes of The Handmaid's Tale season 6 and potential spoilers for The Testaments.

We have questions about The Handmaid's Tale season 6 - and we aren't the only ones. Is anyone else really worried about Janine? Because we are, and should Janine die after everything she's been through, we don't know how we'll cope.

Also, what happens to Emily? She left for the resistance and needs a proper ending. And let's not forget the big hitting questions: Does June get Hannah back and will she end up with Nick or Luke?

Those questions aside, our most pressing pondering at the moment relates to the ever-slippery Serena Joy. Back in a position of power by episode 3, she has a new set of outfits, too. We'd like to know why she's wearing pink tones, and there are some pretty interesting theories out there.

Why does Serena wear pink in New Bethlehem?

We did warn you there were major spoilers, and yes, by episode 3 of The Handmaid's Tale season 6, Gilead's very own Serena Joy is living comfortably in New Bethlehem.

That's not the fate we'd hoped for - what the world must've been collectively hoping for was for Serena to have baby Noah taken from her and to be made a Handmaid. An eye for an eye and all that, right?

But no, thanks to June no less, Serena wasn't arrested for war crimes on the way to Alaska and sent packing back to Gilead, she's working as an ambassador in New Bethlehem. Apparently, she's working towards Gilead reform and righting the wrongs she played a big part in.

All of this work is being undertaken while she wears a wardrobe full of very pretty pinkish/lilac/mauve colour palettes. She even has a version of these ensembles that has trousers! We'll put this out there - there's been no official word from the show's powers that be about why she's dressed in this colour, but there are theories.

The first and very straightforward theory is that Serena has chosen these colours simply because she likes them. When she left Gilead, and also in previous flashbacks, she's often been seen in civilian clothes made up of pink hues.

Therefore, stepping into the more liberal New Bethlehem, Serena could've seen this as an opportunity to leave the old Wife blue/green/teal behind and wear what she wants.

This also ties in with thoughts that, because of New Bethlehem's relaxed laws, women can wear whatever they want within reason - in the background of some shots, women in yellow and a variety of other colours can be seen, and they simply have no meaning.

However, we don't particularly buy into this theory. In TV and especially with The Handmaid's Tale, which is renowned for its meticulously symbolic costume design, outfits always add to the storytelling.

One theory flying around is that as Serena's clothes are very similar in colour to the outfit we last saw Hannah wearing - a pale purple/lilac. Serena could've taken on this colour to showcase her fertility and readiness to remarry and become a Wife again.

The colour could also have been picked especially for Serena, as there aren't many fertile Widows around, and New Bethlehem could've wanted her to stand out as being one of the first of this very unusual category of women.

We have to say, the theory we most subscribe to relates to The Handmaid's Tale setting up its spin-off, The Testaments. In The Testaments, groups of women called the Pearl Girls act as missionaries, heading off to Canada and beyond in a bid to recruit women to convert to the Gilead faith.

As Serena's role in New Bethlehem is still being worked out and as a widowed Wife with a child she's a bit of an anomaly, the pink colours could've been chosen for her as the original missionary - pink is soft, feminine and motherly, and could be seen as a colour the women Gilead wants to recruit, will relate to.

If Serena heads up the group of missionaries that become the Pearl Girls, the feminine, trustworthy colours she wears could act as the blueprint for the ultimate in virginal/womanly outfits the Pearl Girls wear - silvery dresses and pearls.