Haley Lu Richardson Wore Some Of Her Own Clothes On The White Lotus
I don't know how to feel about this information.
HBO’s The White Lotus is full of sex, intrigue, and murder. It’s also full of fashion, even if it’s not the best fashion. Portia’s outfits in particular sparked lots of conversations over the course of the season, with fans taking sides on whether her looks were spot on or tragic failures. Adding to the discourse is none other than the actor who plays Portia, Haley Lu Richardson, who admitted she wore some of her own clothes when filming The White Lotus.
Warning: Spoilers for The White Lotus Season 2 follow. As the tag-along assistant to Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya, Portia’s plan for her time in Sicily was to live a little, have fun, sleep with a stranger or two, and then head home. She found a nice boy in fellow vacationer Albie (Adam DiMarco); however, her attention was quickly stolen by the more dangerous Brit, Jack (Leo Woodall).
But regardless of whether she was hanging with Ablie’s fam or hanging onto Jack’s every word, it wasn’t Portia’s bad life choices that defined her — it was her looks, which were often very bright, mismatched, and almost-too-quintessentially Gen Z.
Speaking somewhat sheepishly on The Today Show, Richardson admitted that a couple of those fashion choices were her own contribution.
“I’m scared to say this, because everyone thinks Portia’s clothes are ugly, but there were definitely some pieces I brought [onto the show],” Richardson said, pointing to her cutoff jean shorts and safety pin earrings as examples.
As for those who are not fans of Portia’s slightly frumpy look, Richardson said it was deliberate. “The thing about Portia is, you take pieces of kind-of-cute clothing and then you kind of put it together in a way that just looks off a bit, looks a little bit messy and chaotic.”
Everything about her look is not quite put together, speaking to the unpolished nature of her character, in contrast to those like Mia and Lucia, who seem to have everything under control. Like Tanya said on the show, Portia’s reminders her of a younger version of herself, aka... messy. Fans can only hope the character doesn’t meet the same fate as her ex-boss.
The White Lotus Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on HBO Max. Season 3 is in the works.
