Truth behind Sydney Sweeney's Euphoria nip slip as costume lead speaks out

The third season of HBO's hit series Euphoria has proven to be its most controversial yet, but there seems to be one character that has sparked more debate than any other.

That is, of course, the increasingly divisive Cassie, played by Sydney Sweeney, whose actions in the latest instalment of the series have caused more discourse than all the other characters combined.

Some have even asked whether showrunner Sam Levinson is putting Sweeney's character through a 'humiliation ritual', with Cassie setting up a questionable OnlyFans account where she dresses as a baby or engages in 'puppy play', in order to afford a $50,000 floral arrangement at her wedding.

With the start of the series setting Cassie up as an impending 'bridezilla' who needs everything to be perfect, the latest episode has a subtle theme that shows how, despite her best efforts, the dream can never match reality - and this subtext involves Cassie's constant wardrobe malfunctions.

Cassie's wedding dress balanced her desire to be a 'princess' with her inherent 'tackiness' (HBO)

Viewers were quick to point out that Sweeney's character, despite wearing an 'everything' wedding dress with a plunging bodice, thigh high slit, and lengthy dress, does not quite fit into the gown.

One wrote: "Cassie's nipples fighting for their life in that dress."

While a second said: "Not Cassie worried about a 'ghetto' wedding w her nipple pasties bulging out of her dress."

This was something noticed by the show's costume lead as Sweeney practised her first dance with Jacob Elordi (who plays husband Nate), with her dress' low neckline causing the actress' chest to break free of the bodice.

But rather than fix this issue, Natasha Newman-Thomas realized it was extremely on brand for Cassie, who wants to be a 'princess' on her wedding day but, as ever, has to have a tinge of 'tackiness'.

Speaking to InStyle, Newman-Thomas said: "Sydney kept having nip slips. And I was like, Okay, we're not going to tape her in. We're going to embrace it.

"And I was like, We're going to make custom pasties out of the same hand-beaded fabric and embrace the nip slip because that's so Cassie."

The costume lead explained how she wanted to keep this juxtaposition at the heart of Cassie's outfit on her big day, as it evidenced a key part of Cassie's psychology.

It's fair to say Cassie's wedding didn't go to plan (HBO)

Newman-Thomas said: "And we really wanted her to feel special. And I wanted to make the most beautiful, sexy wedding dress with just the slightest touch of tackiness because it's Cassie."

Jackson Wiederhoeft, the designer behind the beautiful, if revealing, dress, said that he created the type of gown that a bride who 'wants all the s**t' would ask for. This, of course, includes 'the high slit, the beading, the huge 15-foot train'.

He added: "Best case scenario, I think you're dressing as a form of self-expression [for your wedding day], but there is a scenario in which you're dressing as revenge and as a form of trying to outdo everyone.

"It was more about doing the most."

What has Sydney Sweeney said about her nude scenes on Euphoria?

2019

After the first season of Euphoria premieres, Sweeney tells HuffPost: "The thing about the nudity in this show is that it’s not glamorized. It’s not, ‘Oh, here’s a pair of tits.’ It’s just real.

“I had to look at the whole picture of the entirety of the show, and I just fell in love with the rawness and the situations and the emotions that all these characters go through.”

2022

Following the release of the second series, Sweeney reveals that on occasion she pushed back on the levels of nudity director Sam Levinson called for.

Sydney Sweeney in Euphoria season 1 (HBO)

She tells The Independent: "There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really think that’s necessary here.’ He was like, ‘OK, we don’t need it’.

"I’ve never felt like Sam has pushed it on me. When I didn’t want to do it, he didn’t make me.”

Around the same time, she also calls out the double standard around nude scenes, telling Cosmopolitan: "There are hour-long compilations of world-famous male actors with nude scenes who win Oscars and get praised for that work. But the moment a woman does it, it degrades them.”

2023

The following year, Sweeney also reveals that fans are trolling her online with screenshots of Cassie's nude scenes.

She tells The Sun: "It got to the point where they were tagging my family. My cousins don’t need that. It’s completely disgusting and unfair

Sydney Sweeney in season 2's infamous hot tub scene (HBO)

"You have a character that goes through the scrutiny of being a sexualised person at school and then an audience that does the same thing."

2025

In spite of the trolling over her nude scenes and the sexism she’s come up against, Sweeney says she’s not hesitant to perform nude scenes when a script calls for it.

She tells W Magazine: "I don’t get nervous. I think that the female body is a very powerful thing. And I’m telling my character’s story, so I owe it to them to tell it well and to do what needs to be done."

New episodes of Euphoria season three are available to stream on HBO Max, as well as Sky and Now TV.