Unpacking Cassie & Nate’s Wedding Fashion

Spoilers ahead for Euphoria Season 3, Episode 3.

Cassie Howard just married Nate Jacobs in the latest episode of Euphoria, and she has never, ever been happier tried to look sexier.

“Cassie wants to be a princess,” Euphoria’s costume designer, Natasha Newman-Thomas, tells Bustle of Sydney Sweeney’s on-screen bridal style. “She’s maximalist and wants to look super hot, as you already can tell from Episodes 1 and 2. She wants to maintain the gaze as the center of attention, not only for Nate, but for everyone.”

As expected from a bride who blew $50,000 on flower arrangements, her wedding gown was a bit OTT. “The dress has this transformation. It has a crazy-long, huge bustle, and a longer version. And then when we go to the reception, it’s still an eye grabber, but for very different reasons,” says Newman-Thomas, who took over costume design from Heidi Bivens after Season 2. “She’s definitely a seductress princess.”

Needing to have all eyes on her is on brand for the East Highland alum. “Cassie feels a little bit stuck in that high school mentality,” says Newman-Thomas. “Everyone else is in this larger world, and she’s talking about how when they have parties at their house, she’s the star.”

What Cassie might not have accounted for was the fact that her wedding guests — particularly her ex-BFF (and Nate’s ex-girlfriend), Maddy — also had main character energy, dress codes be damned. (The Euphoria characters have never been fans of those, anyway.)

Ahead, the costume designer breaks down everything that influenced Cassie’s wedding gown, how much it’d cost IRL, and how Maddy’s look reflected her feelings on the nuptials. The wedding night may’ve been hellish, but the style was immaculate.

That wedding episode was a ride. First, we have to talk about the dress. Who made it?

That was a custom design between Jackson Wiederhoeft and me. I’m such a huge fan of Jackson’s work. He’s such a master of his craft. I reached out, described what I wanted, and showed him reference images. He sent me sketches, and we went back and forth for approval.

How much did it cost? Especially since she wanted her flowers to be $50,000.

Cost was a huge factor because we didn’t have Cassie’s budget. And as you see at the end of the episode, the dress is in an action scene. So we needed multiples of that dress for the stunt double in case blood got on it.

“We wanted it to be stunning, and the most beautiful dress, but with a little bit of that tacky quality.”

Part of us creating those different layers obviously stemmed from character first, but cost had a little bit of a play in that, because it’s much cheaper to make five minis than five long dresses with the huge bustle.

In the Euphoria world, what do you think is a good ballpark?

For something like Cassie’s, with custom beadwork, matching gloves, and the giant bustle and three different versions, I would say it’s probably in the $40,000 to $50,000 range. It would be something comparable to the flower arrangements. If she wants that many flowers, but she still wants to be the center of attention, she’s definitely going to put what's going on her body first. And I would assume she ordered that dress long before the flower conversation took place.

Cassie had always wanted to be more like Maddy and actually copied her style at some point. Even in that pool scene earlier in the season, it seems like she’s still envious of Maddy’s style. Was Cassie’s dress low-key inspired by what Maddy would’ve worn?

Sam Levinson and I actually talked about that — where in the season the wedding falls and how much Maddy’s influence has affected Cassie at this point. I think that she definitely influenced her. They have that conversation about taste, and Cassie is striving for something bigger, but it always comes with a bit of gaudiness. So we were trying to find that balance with this aspiration to be cool. We wanted it to be stunning, and the most beautiful dress, but with a little bit of that tacky quality.

What was Sydney’s reaction to the dress?

Sydney was obsessed with it. Before we even started making the dress, in the design phase, Sydney happened to be in New York for an event. I asked her team if she could go to Jackson’s studio for a corset fitting because we wanted to understand how the corset would work on her body to influence the design. She wasn’t familiar with the brand at first, but she was so elated after going to his studio that she ended up wearing one of his dresses for a premiere event for The Housemaid a month later. She was like, “I'm obsessed with this.”

Jackson was such a pleasure to work with. He flew to Spain to fit the model muslin version on her. We spent so much time and tedium on the fit and making sure it was perfect because that’s what Cassie would do.

We also need to talk about Maddy’s look. She looked like a goddess attending her ex’s wedding. How did her choice of dress — butt cleavage and all — reflect her headspace and how she felt about attending?

I don’t think Maddy’s going to show up unless she is coming with power and control. So she’s entering that space with an outward expression of that and wanting to mask any kind of jealousy she has, which I don’t know if she even realizes until she’s there in the moment.

We just wanted to make Maddy’s dress as powerful as Cassie’s, but with a totally different sense of style and uniqueness to convey her dominance over the situation and her own emotions. That’s the beauty of using wardrobe as a billboard to say what you want to say, and then your emotions can’t always be masked.

If the dress could talk, what would it say?

I think the dress says: “F*ck you. I’m the baddest b*tch in the room.”

What about Nate’s tux? Who made it?

Nate’s tux is custom Bottega Veneta that we designed together. I told them what I was looking for, sent them several references, and they sent me designs back. French cuff, different collar options. Do we want pleated pants? Do we want a flat front? Single breast, double breast? We landed with what we have because it felt the most Nate: a little bit classic, a little bit conservative, very handsome.

It felt like something Cassie would’ve had an opinion on as well. Not too adventurous because it’s Cassie’s vision and he’s trying to please her.

Nate is in Bottega a lot this season. Now that we know he’s broke, is his Bottega wardrobe meant to play into the storyline about his financial status? Or is it more of a Jacob Elordi preference, since he’s an endorser?

Jacob had nothing to do with that. It was just me emailing my contacts there. We were actually using Bottega on other characters, and I thought that collection was a really good fit for the character, regardless of whether or not you know it’s Bottega. It felt like performative workwear. It’s really funny that so much of the cost of the costumes this season is getting broken down. Bottega was more of a stylistic choice.

It’s meant to simultaneously display his status to his investors and to Cassie, who’s probably also helping him shop. She wants him to wear what she wants, and he goes along with it, but not fully. He’s presenting in this certain way that how he wants people to see him. And he also wants to appeal to his workers, so he doesn't appear too high on a pedestal.

You took over the costume department for Season 3. What were the specific elements for Cassie’s style in the past seasons that you wanted to keep and honor?

She’s still living in this very suburban, insular world. So we wanted to reflect that through the costumes that she’s probably evolved the least at the beginning of Season 3, but she has an evolution, probably more on screen this season than anyone else.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.