Portia from The White Lotus's wardrobe choices say a lot about Gen Z, apparently

The White Lotus fans have a lot to say about the character Portia, and most of their comments are unflattering.

This adjective can also be used to describe how many of them view Portia’s wardrobe choices: a mishmash of styles that don’t always suit.

Twitter is awash with memes about her look, likening her to noughties Disney icon Lizzie McGuire or to an “Urban Outfitters clearance section”.

And yet, her outfits aren’t about fashion in the traditional sense, instead, they offer an insight into her moods and feelings – that is, according to the woman that chose them.

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Costume designer Alex Bovaird has revealed why the Gen Z-er sports wonky crochet hats and cropped rugby tops, and what this says about her generation.

Bovaird said she based Portia’s clothes on what people her age are wearing in big cities around the world and online, telling the Financial Times: “People have started dressing very individually and eccentrically, compared with how young people were dressing 10 years ago."

“It wasn’t, ‘let’s try to make her wear ugly clothes’; that wasn’t the point. Yes, she looks good, and yes, she looks bad, but it’s how everyone is dressing, a big hodgepodge of incoherent things and different moods.”

In other words, she dresses how she feels at the time: baggy when she’s feeling down, sexier when she’s looking to flirt.

“She spends too much time on TikTok, she is ruled by the discourse and what she should be thinking,” Bovaird added. “She is following the zeitgeist and the trends, but also she is a bit of a mess, so she doesn’t always quite hit the mark.”

Meanwhile, Raches Tashjian, Harper’s Bazaar’s Fashion News Director has described Portia both as having the “Depop doldrums” and as “TV’s best-dressed character”.

“[Bovaird] tracks through Portia how clothes that seem chaotic and inscrutable to anyone older than 28 are perhaps reflecting a sense of chaos and confusion within,” Tashjian writes.

“Portia does not dress like a character from Euphoria; she dresses like a lost young woman who watches Euphoria.”

Now, if all this analysis is getting a bit too heavy for you, here's a look at some the best Portia tweets:

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