Maddy Perez
the rich women whom her mother worked for as an
Madeleine ‘Maddy’ Perez played by Alexa Demie is
one of the main characters on Euphoria. Confident,
combative Maddy is Nate’s on-and-off girlfriend and
finds herself bearing the weight of Nate’s emotions.
Maddy was born on August 7, 2001. At a young
age, she frequently competed in beauty pageants
to great success due to her high levels of self-confi-
dence. However, after her mother saw a news report
about a pageant coach being arrested as a child
molester, she was prohibited from entering any more
pageants. Despite initial protests (which involved
refusing to eat for a week), Maddy began to real-
ize that she enjoyed “not doing anything” and em-
braced her lack of desire for a career. While studying
esthetician, Maddy decided that she wanted to be-
come one of them in order to avoid being trapped
in a strained, loveless relationship like her mother and
father’s.
At some point, Maddy entered a relationship with
Nate Jacobs. After watching the 1995 film Casino,
Maddy began to idolize Sharon Stone’s portray-
al of Ginger McKenna, a rich showgirl who used her
looks and wits to manipulate men into supporting
her wealth. With her in mind, Maddy learned how to
convince Nate to buy her expensive items by making
him feel confident and powerful, partially via sex. She
often watched porn to analyze the performers and
learn new techniques, although she never gained
arousal from doing so.
Maddy and Nate’s relationship was tumultuous; they
took multiple breaks, during which Maddy would
often find herself hooking up with other guys. She
disliked Nate’s volatile personality and feared that it
would lead to him hurting her one day; despite this,
she knew she would continue loving him regardless of
his actions, a fact that made her “sick to her stomach”.
She was also a cheerleader in the East Highland
cheerleading squad.
 why we chose
Euphoria
Euphoria has grabbed all eyeballs in a very short span.
Prime bingeing material, the show explores teen life in all
its dark and depressing glory. The almost scandalous plot
points cover everything from drug addiction and omnipres-
ent porn, to toxic masculinity and gender fluidity. The cherry
on top of this tantalising sundae of debauchery is definitely
the styling done by the show’s costume designer, Heidi Biv-
ens. She has fleshed out every character in spot on looks
that go beyond being plainly utilitarian and add to their
personas.
From Rue’s classic tomboy looks to Jules’ vin-
tage designer meets quirky staples, the sartorial
choices are often something the audience wish-
es they could’ve worn as teens. Among the bold
choices we see Kat adding her dominatrix alter
ego to her everyday style with a lot of leather
and sheer fabrics paired with chokers and body
harnesses. Most of Maddy’s wardrobe stands
out with her flirty mini dresses and matched sets.

Makeup is another big part of what makes the

styling on Euphoria really stand out. Bold make-
up looks have been penetrating the runways
and were also occasionally spotted on Kendall
Jenner or Rihanna with bold pops of eyeshad-
ow or blinged out stamps and face tattoos.
However, Euphoria has majorly normalised these
over the top looks. The makeup looks in Eupho-
ria don’t shy away from glitter and rhinestones.
Jules’ glittery eyeshadows and pops of pastels,
to Maddy’s signature rhinestones, the makeup is
fun and youthful which adds to the show’s young
appeal.
Why we chose Maddy
Maddy Perez is the beautiful and unapologetic popular girl in
school. Gorgeous and bitchy, Maddy has always known her pow-
er. From a young age, Maddy has been aware of the intangible
quality she has that draws people to her and she revels in the
confidence that brings her.

The show’s resident beauty queen is also a cheerleader and the

on-and-off girlfriend of the school’s quarterback, checking off all
the boxes on the popular girl trope and joining the ranks of Regina
George and Cher Horowitz before her. However, Maddy is also
progressively divergent to the cookie-cutter version of a teen dra-
ma popular girl, being that she’s neither blonde, nor rich or perfect.
A stunning Latina, Perez comes from a dysfunctional middle-class
family and is in a violently toxic relationship. That being said, she
does share something in common with the classic queen bees- a
stand out wardrobe and bold sartorial choices.
Among the many standout outfits and makeup looks on Euphoria,
Maddy’s looks make an impression. She’s kind of like Rihanna in terms
of sartorial choices in the sense that she is bold and can literally
wear a trash bag and convince the world that it looks fabulous.

Her glammed up character is aided along with a wardrobe brim-

ming with matching two-piece sets. From a Juicy Couture velour skirt
and hoodie to a rainbow Louis Vuitton logo sports bra and leg-
gings, Maddy rocks the matched sets with a staggering confidence.
She even channels Chanel’s iconic pastel tweed skirt suit albeit with
a youthful twist. Maddy grips the audience as her personality shines
through the screen in perfect co-ords that brings to mind the iconic
struts of Cher in her plaid yellow skirt and jacket or Regina in a pink
velour Juicy Couture tracksuit.
Apart from this Maddy’s makeup looks are iconic as well. Decked
out in rhinestones and pops of colour, she normalises over the top
makeup looks. A love for large decked out hoops is also evident in
most outfits she wears.
 The outfit we chose
to recreate
The particular outfit we chose to recreate was Maddy’s winter formal look. Decked head
to toe in chainmail, she delivered a look that was impossible to miss. Continuing her love for
matched sets, the look included a chainmail skirt with a dangerously high slit along with a
matched halter top. This is topped off with a glittering chainmail veil and accessorised with
glitzy earrings and a glittery rhinestone decked bold eye.

Chainmail has been dominating the fashion scene lately, most recently seen on Sophie
Turner in Paco Rabanne and also finding its way to a number of street style trends at fashion
weeks. The trend has also made its way into runway hair looks. However, Maddy’s almost
naked chainmail dress is more nostalgic as it channels Rihanna’s CFDA dress that ushered
in an era of naked dresses.
 Euphoria critique
HBO’s latest teen drama, an adaptation of a
decidedly scandalous Israeli show, Euphoria is
an unfiltered foray into the Gen Z world of drugs,
sex, violence, and mental health issues. The show,
helmed by a fine, young cast led by the impec-
cable Zendaya is created by Sam Levinson. With
one foot placed firmly in a realm of fantasy, Levin-
son creates an over the top atmosphere with
staggering visuals and lucid cinematography
that is almost subversive to the horrifying nature
of the plot.
Centred around the 17 year old resilient drug ad-
dict Rue, the show navigates the truly cataclysmic
world that surrounds the teens growing up today.
After a stint in rehab over the summer after returning
from a near-death overdose, we see Rue continue
to put herself in life threatening situations over the
initial episodes to chase that feeling of not eupho-
ria, but complete nothingness. With Jules back at
the end of the summer, she meets the series’ second
lead and her best friend, Jules played by Hunter
Shafer. Jules, a trans teen, is the new girl in town. Jules’
chirpy personality and an unapologetic attitude
set her above the frankly dark events that haunt
her childhood. Rue, on the search for her sunshine, is
drawn to Jules for that very reason. Zendaya as Rue
shakes off her Disney image with a bleary certainty
as she captures the character’s emotional havoc
and neediness.
What sets Euphoria apart is the almost indifferent
narration by Rue. Like Skins before it, each episode
of Euphoria delves into the lives of one of its char-
acters. Characters that include the quintessential
jock Nate played by Jacob Elordi who puts his 6’4
frame to intimidating use as the poster boy for tox-
ic masculinity and rage issues; the popular sex pot
Maddie (Alexa Demie); Cassie (Sydney Sweeney)
who is struggling to shake off her promiscuous rep-
utation, and Kat played by body positivity activist
Barbie Ferreira who graduated from writing steamy
fanfiction on Tumblr to cultivating a dominatrix alter
ego online. The show tells the story of each of them
as they navigate through their horrifying situations
with an almost blasé attitude.
Euphoria doesn’t just depict these teens’ lives but
taps into their minds to let the viewers glimpse at
the world through their eyes. The show has an un-
certain quality that adds to the melancholy. Rue’s
addiction and depressions isn’t sensationalised
but dissected into horror and helplessness. It is a
glaring mirror on the truth of mental health disorders
that wax and wane and embroil themselves into the
fabric of everyday reality. There is no glorification,
only the terror.
Euphoria has its share of problems as well, espe-
cially when it comes to clunky dialogues and char-
acters that can’t shake off tropes that have been
done to death. Easily the most stylish teen show, it
struggles with dismissing the body fetish problem of
über hot teenagers. Then there’s the sex and nudi-
ty that while not necessarily sexy at all times, often
feels perfunctory than necessary.
Euphoria isn’t a show that will appeal to all tastes.
However, its bad rep can be credited to the fact
that it is difficult to digest. The haunting debauchery
visualised is littered with melancholy and can suck
the viewers down a rabbit hole of anxiety. However,
the angst in most scenes can be brushed away to
reveal deeper and more sophisticated messages.
In dissecting the brutal sexuality in an atmosphere of
constant surveillance, Euphoria taps into the sweet
naïveté and dreadful cruelty of adolescence. It
captures your attention with shock value and slowly
gives way to something more meaningful; quite like
the way most social media feeds are handled to-
day. In a lot of ways, you despise the imagery, but
as we often do with social media, you can’t look
away from Euphoria.
behind the scenes
Document by:
Diksha Jagtap
Hitanshi Kamdar
Niharika Mavuri