HBO’s Euphoria is no stranger to backlash, but season three has ignited its loudest arguments yet — and one character in particular is sitting at the centre of it.
That lightning rod is Cassie, played by Sydney Sweeney. In the newest run of episodes, her choices have driven more online debate than the rest of the cast put together.
Some viewers have even questioned whether creator Sam Levinson is subjecting Sweeney to a so-called “humiliation ritual”, pointing to a storyline in which Cassie launches an OnlyFans account featuring uncomfortable roleplay — including dressing like a baby and taking part in “puppy play” — to bankroll a $50,000 floral display for her wedding.
From the start, the season frames Cassie as a would-be “bridezilla” desperate for perfection. But the latest episode quietly underlines a different idea: no matter how hard she tries to manufacture a fantasy, real life keeps undermining it — and the show channels that tension through a series of wardrobe issues.
In particular, Cassie’s over-the-top wedding look is designed to scream “everything.” The dress features a plunging bodice, a thigh-high slit, and an extended train — yet she never seems entirely secure in it.
That problem reportedly became obvious during rehearsal for Cassie’s first dance with Jacob Elordi (Nate). With the neckline cut so low, the bodice repeatedly failed to hold in place.
Instead of treating it as a mistake to correct, costume lead Natasha Newman-Thomas saw the recurring “malfunctions” as perfectly aligned with Cassie’s identity: someone chasing a princess ideal, but always carrying a trace of something slightly gaudy.
Speaking to InStyle, Newman-Thomas said: “Sydney kept having nip slips. And I was like, Okay, we’re not going to tape her in. We’re going to embrace it.”
She continued: “And I was like, We’re going to make custom pasties out of the same hand-beaded fabric and embrace the nip slip because that’s so Cassie.”
For Newman-Thomas, keeping that push-and-pull in the design was the point: Cassie’s need to feel idolised collides with her messier impulses, and the outfit becomes a visual shorthand for that contradiction.
Newman-Thomas said: “And we really wanted her to feel special. And I wanted to make the most beautiful, sexy wedding dress with just the slightest touch of tackiness because it’s Cassie.”
Designer Jackson Wiederhoeft, who created the dress, described it as the kind of maximalist gown a bride “who wants all the sh*t” would demand — including “the high slit, the beading, the huge 15-foot train.”
He added: “Best case scenario, I think you’re dressing as a form of self-expression [for your wedding day], but there is a scenario in which you’re dressing as revenge and as a form of trying to outdo everyone.
“It was more about doing the most.”