What did The White Lotus go wrong with the Portias Gen-Z wardrobe | Mode

Iit’s hard not to hate the characters in it White Lotus, an HBO show set in a fictional luxury hotel chain in Sicily for its second season. They are rich and nearly all attractive, but miserable; irresistible combination. Each week, viewers switch between who is the most irresistible guest. Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), the Gen Z assistant to Tanya, Jennifer Coolidges plays the psycho boss, is at the top of many viewers’ lists. Fresh out of college, whiny and addicted to doomscrolling on social media, he’s comfortable, even if a little confused. Also received his share of vitriol? Portia’s wardrobe.

From the start, Portia’s outfit made her look out of place. Against the hotel’s grandeur, she wore a goose-lined knitted sweater vest, paired with awkwardly long denim shorts. Her appearance is even more stunning when seen with her employer, Tanya, who is wearing a tight, floral dress from Dolce & Gabbana. Portia wears a backpack while Tanya carries the same bag in every episode, a bright pink Valentino shoulder bag with a flashy gold logo.

Many of Portias’ pieces look like they were found at Depop or from a charity shop. Her sweater vest is from the popular Instagram brand House of Sunny, her No Problemo tie-dye sweater is from Aries while she can make her own beaded jewelry. While this seems pretty typical of Gen Z, who are conscious about where their clothes are made and care deeply about the environment, there’s something about the look that just doesn’t quite quite quite fit. Also: why is he wearing a jumper in the Sicilian sun?

The TikTok-for-you page is flooded with instructions on how to achieve the clean girl aesthetic dewy skin, slicked-back ponytails, and capsule wardrobes that reflect this. Take Matilda Djerf, the wildly popular 25-year-old Swedish influencer with enviable hair (she has over 2 million Instagram followers) who can look no further than Portia’s loud and chaotic wardrobe. Portia doesn’t have the usual staples, beiges, and neutral tones you can pair with anything. She has items of contrast and they only seem to bring them together. That’s how she got her signature look, worn the first time she met Jack (Leo Woodall) at the hotel bar: a zebra print bikini and Technicolor bolero.

Then why is she dressed like this? One answer is, this is a fictional show and these are costumes chosen by a costume designer. Then there’s the separation between accuracy and what works on television. Compared to the other female characters on the show, especially Daphne (Meghann Fahy) and Harper (Aubrey Plaza), who despite not being much older than her seem to be dressed according to the resort wear section of high-end brands, she is the antithesis of luxury. Though the actual clothes Portia wore weren’t cheap, both the House of Sunny and Aries pieces cost over 100, they suggest she’s the one working for the rich.

Unsurprisingly, people on social media (myself included) have spent ages dissecting what women wear, but barely mention men. Albie (Adam DiMarco), whom Portias cheated on at the start of the trip, has just finished college too, but her outfit doesn’t spark the same outrage. When men don’t take off their tops, Hawaiian shirts and swim trunks get pretty boring. Maybe we don’t talk about it because there is nothing to say?

If she’s a product of the digital native generation, she claims to be whose style stems from TikTok trends since when did algorithms spit out ill-fitting clothes with clashing colors and patterns? The answer is, it isn’t but the lack of different styles is basically the point.

Portia’s sense of dress seems to be a bit off and you get the idea early on that she might be feeling it too. He didn’t really know himself yet. Her crocheted bucket hat and pearl necklace made her feel happy and free, but also tried to scream, a little too loudly, I don’t like you.

He’s at a crossroads in life where the structure of education is gone and he’s left with the prospect of working for someone like Tanya might be his future. This is something the Gen Z audience can relate to. So she uses her clothes to try to assert herself, to show that she is somehow different (even if her actions suggest otherwise) by voting for me.

So what to wear? Had we seen her in a neutral Skim dress (the brand belongs to Kim Kardashian), Portia would have looked more distinctly Gen Z, but it would have been out of character for her. He might not look like the typical of his generation, but misunderstood, he didn’t feel like either. As for the jumper in the heat, it’s just poor packing.