Euphoria Season 2 - The real symbolism of Cassie’s looks

cassie cassie what is going on cassie season two cassie goes through some major changes and so does her style euphoria's makeup and fashion looks are influential and iconic but they also have a deeper meaning reflecting what's going on with the characters so what's the secret emotional meaning underneath each of cassie's season 2 looks when cassie becomes determined to catch nate's attention she changes her style to be more like his ex maddie's and even just completely copies maddie with this y2k-esque matching set in mini handbag wait why are my classes as vogue writes matching sets and flashy suits are an easy impactful shorthand for the queen bee think cher horowitz or blair waldorf and maddie's no exception asset says i have my life in order projecting the sometimes obsessive need for control queen bees have so it's ironic that cassie tries to adopt maddie's signature confident look when she's clearly spiraling out of control the anxiety and excitement she felt in her stomach cassie's makeup changes too her usual day look is bare-faced and glowy but after falling for nate she starts echoing maddie's heavier and vampire looks she even does the laid down edges like maddie which for white cassie is not a great look this approach works at least to briefly catch nate's attention but it's an insight into just how quickly cassie is losing herself and trying anything even ripping off the best friend she's betraying just to get a passing glance from a guy and for those three hours she spent getting ready she only thought about one thing [Music] cassie also starts looking a bit more like jewels perhaps sensing nate's secret attraction to her by the end of season 2 cassie's skin is paler and her hair is straighter and blonder like jules's her bright graphic eyeliner and some of the brighter colors she wears also remind us of jewels donnie davey euphoria's makeup artist said quote the goal was to sort of shift her whole vibe to be season one era jules maddie cassie hybrid that would appeal to nader possibly to his subconscious nate fantasizes about cassie turning into both maddie and jules while they're together and after cassie tells nate he can dress her in season 2 second to last episode in the finale her bright hair and makeup colors evoke jewels while her matching outfit has a maddie vibe so he's clearly not over his breakup with maddie and harboring a strong attraction to jules which is complicated by jules's history with his dad and cassie's insecurity stems from knowing nate's not fully hers we got to play with so many really cool looks because i was all these other characters that i thought nate wanted after the earlier sequences of cassie adopting a punishing hours-long beauty ritual to appeal to nate it was her way of telling him that she was his later in the season cassie explicitly tells nate he can basically make her his doll you can't control what i wear what i eat and we get a dreamy light sodden scene where nate is dressing cassie up the fantasy is symbolic of their relationship he makes her into whatever he's craving at the moment she wants nothing more than to be controlled and possessed by him nae likes girls to look feminine and innocent so we see him tie a baby blue ribbon in cassie's hair and put her in a dress that if you look close enough has pom-poms on it cbr writes the dress was a piece from moschino's 2022 spring collection designed by jeremy scott which received some online backlash when it was released because it appeared to be infantilizing women the collection was also a take on the 1950s housewife and suburban life reflecting nate's fantasy of getting cassie pregnant which many fans think she is in season two cassie is lost and looking for a role after trying to look like maddie she's basically flailing around for anything nate might like one particularly random look that happens to coincide with school oklahoma auditions makes roo think cassie's literally playing a character wait are you in the flight oh my god do i look like i'm in oklahoma euphoria's costume director heidi bivin said to vogue quote i think what you see her trying to emulate is what she wishes she was and so more than a lot of the other characters i feel like cassie's clothes are a costume by the finale it seems as though there's almost no cassie left in cassie her hair isn't bouncy anymore and she's deathly pale she looks as donny davey put it unwell i'm the one who falls in love i'm the one who gets hurt her appearance is also a little robotic like she's a stepford wife again maybe echoing nate's fantasy where cassie and he have a perfect family in trying to fit the role of nate's girlfriend cassie suppresses her own identity and it's almost eerie when maddie says well she certainly looks the part [Music] some outfits don't take an expert to decipher there's cassie's gray depression sweats and then of course there's the desperation swimsuit cassie sees nate fawning over maddie on maddie's birthday and reacts wow that was certainly a choice in a different color that swimsuit would totally be a madi thing straps and cutouts are her style but on cassie it's a cry for help [Music] cassie's baseline style is youthful and feminine almost everything she wears is light pink or baby blue little girl colors and little girl hairdos too pigtails double buns braids but her form-fitting silhouettes and deep cleavage are feminine and sensual these two sides of her style reflect how in life cassie's in a constant push and pull between innocence and sexiness we should just pick the hottest most confident bad [ __ ] version of ourselves and do that for the rest of the school year her nature is sweet and immature but she's used to being perceived as a sex object and knows that that's part of her power cassie's makeup looks communicate the same combination of innocence and sensuality donnie davey speaking of the episode where cassie first hooks up with nate and betrays maddie said we loved keeping her skin dewy with super fleshy cheeks and lips for this episode we were always bringing her lip color out beyond her lips to sort of look like make out cry lips and she described the tiny rhinestones framing cassie's eyes as the night goes on her anxiety terrified totally freaked out eyes are framed by this delicate like innocent twinkle she wasn't really trying to do what she did right as the season goes on people like her mom call her out on this contradiction how she keeps maintaining innocence and powerlessness over her situation but is clearly making the choice to sleep with her best friend's guy i'm not the bad guy everyone keeps looking at me like i'm the bad guy but i'm not the bad guy well you're not the good guy [Music] the plot of cassie and nate's secret relationship culminates in a showdown between the two best friends and that's reflected in the contrast between their looks and evolution of their styles just look at how sleek and immaculate maddie looks even after the fight while cassie's look is completely messed up and in general while cassie tries to pull off maddie looks in season 2 she's fighting a losing battle because their essences are completely opposed maddie is controlled and mature while cassie is childish and a mess i just wanna die [Applause] maddie's trademark makeup is heavy and bold with sharp lethal wings cassie's season 1 and early season 2 looks are more natural glowy and soft maddie wears a lot of sleek tight updos and ponies signaling how put together and in control she is while cassie wears her hair in loose golden curls in season two while cassie is copying season one maddie maddie moves on to 90s styles which are edgier and more on trend maybe reflecting the influence her very fashionable new mentor samantha has on her i got you something what you didn't have to i know something tells me you'll enjoy it when maddie wears hypersexual clothes it's almost like it's not even about sex but about flaunting the confidence it takes to pull off that kind of outfit but when cassie wears sexy outfits perhaps because the shape of her body and the way it looks like it might spill out of her clothes she ends up looking almost too sexy or sexier than she had planned as though her own body isn't quite under her control so we see that the control maddie has and cassie lacks extends to how much agency they have over their own image cassie spends season two pretty much at the whim of her heart's urges and her costumes and makeup reflect the scattered disorderly emotional state whereas maddie and other characters are dressing to express themselves cassie is just blindly trying everything she can to be loved but through totally erasing herself she's not making that possible that you're afraid people are gonna look down on [Music] at you i've left as heidi bivin said quote she's still trying to figure out how to present herself to the world hopefully in season three we'll see a new cassie style that's actually about who she is i feel fine do i not look fine this video was written by friend of the take anya formosova if you liked the ideas here you can check out her channel q22 for more interesting cultural insights click the link in the description below [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Take

Views: 195,088

Keywords: euphoria, cassie, season 2, sydney sweeney, maddy, jules, nate, queen bee, desperation, pink swimsuit, oklahoma, baby blue, makeup, styling, looks, fits, clothing, costuming, jackets, purses, accessories, eye, glitter, style

Id: K6PX4p-NBlU

Length: 9min 30sec (570 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 06 2022