During Sunday evening’s season 3 episode of HBO’s Gen Z drama “Euphoria,” viewers discovered themselves watching yet another messy, disastrous and unhinged marriage ceremony unfold onscreen — which was in all probability inevitable contemplating that it centered on the marriage ceremony of the delusional Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and the poisonous Nate (Jacob Elordi).
Before the ceremony, Nate experiences a panic assault. His ex-girlfriend, Maddy (Alexa Demie), tries to drag an influence transfer by displaying as much as the occasion. The marriage ceremony dance is cheesy and unusual, and the evening ends in an absolute nightmare. (Details will probably be spared to keep away from spoilers.)
But maybe what had the web speaking the most have been the trend selections of the marriage ceremony company, significantly Cassie and Nate’s former highschool classmates.
There was Maddy, Cassie’s former greatest good friend, in a placing, revealing inexperienced gown with a beaded again, paired with a fur scarf. “We see a lot of power dynamics between Maddy and Cassie this season,” Natasha Newman-Thomas, the show’s costume designer, mentioned in an interview. “And it had to be something equally powerful to Cassie’s dress if Maddy is going to show up to this thing.”
There was Jules (Hunter Schafer), who wore one other revealing look — a dusty blue Acne Studios runway robe, which Newman-Thomas described as “a representation of her newfound status,” pointing to the character’s shift to a extra elevated model since she started courting an older, rich man. Jules had her personal causes to indicate off at this marriage ceremony, the place she was seeing a lot of her former highschool classmates for the first time in over 4 years.
Jules was coloration coordinated with Rue (Zendaya), who picked a classic males’s swimsuit paired with, sure, soiled Converse. Her signature Chuck Taylors have been a should at the request of Sam Levinson, the showrunner, who “really wanted Rue to be in her Converse throughout the entire third season to represent her lack of emotional development between the Season 2 and Season 3 jump,” Newman-Thomas mentioned.
And there was BB (Sophia Rose Wilson), who arrived in a crimson minidress with a slit in the midsection that exposed her pregnant stomach. It regarded like a membership outfit from 2019, when Season 1 aired. That, too, is reflective of her character: “She kind of just shows up in something maybe akin to what she would have worn in high school, in this kind of garish full stomach out, no-class outfit,” Newman-Thomas mentioned.
Each trend alternative displays each the character’s private model and emotional state. And whereas some viewers have discussed how untraditional their ceremony outfits were, that’s precisely the level.
“These aren’t very buttoned-up characters,” Newman-Thomas mentioned. “We’ve met them in the past, and we’ve lived with them.”
“It’s not a traditional wedding in the sense that it’s ‘Euphoria,’” she mentioned, including that “it should feel a bit surreal and exciting.” After all, the ladies confirmed as much as highschool in earlier seasons in mini skirts, crop tops, iridescent eye make-up and tiny purses (not backpacks).
But “Euphoria” additionally possesses a eager sense for capturing the temper and magnificence of Gen Z, a demographic now coming into its marriage ceremony period. And the characters’ trend selections replicate extra of an openness to veering away from conventional marriage ceremony gown codes.
There are loads of real-life examples. Earlier this yr, Amber Rose wore a deep plunge halter dress to the marriage ceremony of the Republican strategist Alex Bruesewitz. Kendall Jenner wore a really little black dress at her friend Lauren Perez’s wedding in 2021. On social media, some company have even shared that they’ve attended weddings with a gown code to “upstage the bride,” the place company put on their most flashy and outrageous outfits. (Think sizzling pink swimsuit with ruffles and lantern-like fringe headpieces that cowl the face.)
“Couples are encouraging their guests to express more of their individual style,” mentioned Corinne Pierre-Louis, a bridal stylist and trend editor, of up to date gown codes. “In the past, it used to be: black tie, formal, or semiformal.” But in recent times, she has labored with {couples} who’ve had gown codes like “seaside elegance,” “Mediterranean chic,” and “come as you are,” which was maybe the code for Cassie and Nate’s marriage ceremony, she mentioned, jokingly.
While the present’s trend selections are naturally a bit inflated, they’re aligned with the marriage ceremony tradition of a youthful era, for which private model and self-expression would possibly take priority over etiquette.
“It’s kind of poking fun at the fact that the wedding guest fashion is changing, and let’s see how far we can stretch it with this exaggerated cast,” Pierre-Louis mentioned. “Gen Z, they’ve seen their parents and older generations get married and they see photos, and they think it’s stuffy and they want something unique and trendy.”
But, Pierre-Louis mentioned she in all probability wouldn’t advise a consumer to put on a gown like the one which Jules or Maddy wore: “You don’t want to give the grandmother a heart attack.”
