The Fashion In Tell Me Lies Will Transport You Back To The Late 2000s

If you’re currently tuning into the newly released third season of Hulu’s Tell Me Lies (much like the staggering five million viewers who streamed the premiere), you can probably relate to the storyline in some way. Maybe it’s the toxic on-again, off-again college relationship. Maybe it’s the friend-group drama. If neither of those two hit close to home, the 2000s fashion in the series alone is surely enough to send you down memory lane, conjuring up images of your experimental (and sometimes cringe-worthy) outfits at the time.

For costume designer Charlotte Svenson, it was all about transporting the audience back to the late aughts, when the show’s core friend group — including Lucy (played by Grace Van Patten), Stephen (Jackson White), Pippa (Sonia Mena), Wrigley (Spencer House), Bree (Catherine Missal), and Evan (Branden Cook) — were in college. “For our viewers, some are millennials diving into familiar nostalgia, while others are Gen Z seeing trends come full circle,” Svenson tells TZR on a recent call. The costume designer — who has also helped with the costumes on shows like Orange Is the New Black and Russian Doll — adds that fashion is a powerful way to tap into those emotions, both for the story and the overall tone of the show.

However, Svenson didn’t want the fashion to distract from the plot. “The costumes were supposed to be secondary to the story,” she explains. As such, she steered clear of polarizing late aughts microtrends. “I want it to be timeless in a way,” she adds. To strike that balance, Svenson mixed elements from the 2000s and today, sourcing fashion inspiration from iconic teen dramas such as The O.C. and One Tree Hill, as well as modern-day style muses like Bella Hadid. On our call, she also jokes that she reactivated her Facebook to revisit what she and her friends were wearing 20 years ago.

Meanwhile, Svenson used the wardrobes to chart the characters’ growth. In the first two seasons, they were still finding their footing — both personally and sartorially. After settling in at the fictional Baird College, Lucy, Bree, and Pippa (the main female characters) became a bit more self-assured, and their outfits followed suit. “They’re all a little bit older and have experimented with their style, and we’re going to pretend they have a little bit more money and can afford these things,” Svenson says about dressing the characters for the latest season.

For Lucy, Svenson notes that the character often masks her insecurities through her wardrobe. So, in scenes with Stephen (her toxic on-again, off-again boyfriend), she exposes more skin in tighter silhouettes. “When you see that Lucy is genuinely more settled or emotionally safe, her style relaxes, whether she’s in her dormitory in a tank top and sweats or in school wearing softer colors. She’s seeking less validation.”

Bree, meanwhile, had the most significant fashion evolution from Season 1 to Season 3. Early on, the character hadn’t yet experienced her loss-of-innocence moment, gravitating toward girly headbands and punchy stripes. Things began changing when — spoiler alert! — she enters a tumultuous relationship with her professor in Season 2. “She’s more romantic and feminine, and showing more skin for Oliver’s gaze,” says Svenson. “This season, we see her revert to her true self, settling into what she can afford and what is truly her,” the costume designer adds, noting that she leaned into muted colors and fewer patterns.

Then there’s Pippa. “I think she’s just a shapeshifter and has the hardest edge to her clothing in all three seasons,” Svenson shares. “She is kind of the snarkiest, and you can see that through her clothes,” she shares, pointing to heavy embellishments, padded bras, and chunky jewelry as key details in the character’s wardrobe.

The shooting location also played a role in the costumes. In the first two seasons, Tell Me Lies was filmed in Atlanta. At the time, the costume designer mainly pulled looks from popular Y2K mall brands like Abercrombie and Hollister. But when production moved to Toronto for the third season, Svenson had to completely change her strategy, as tariffs made things tricky. So, she turned to vintage instead.

“We had to really dive into what Canada was doing in 2009 and what brands existed for them,” she explains, adding that she discovered labels she’s never heard of, including Dynamite, Mexx, and Parasuco. A few Toronto-based vintage shops Svenson sourced pieces from? Smoking Vintage, Batch Vintage, Statuette Toronto, and Boho Chachkies. Svenson also found looks on online resale platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Depop, The RealReal, and eBay.

Trends from 2016 may be destined for a return this year (thank you, social media), but with all the buzz around the latest season of Tell Me Lies, late 2000s staples are likely close behind.