The Style of Lore Olympus with Courtney
Appreciation for @style_olympus
“Fashion is the clothes. Style is the story you tell with them. That's why I love looking at the style elements in Lore Olympus.”
Courtney is a death doula, life coach, and costuming enthusiast in Oakland. In her down time, she designs, builds, and then camps in teardrop trailers, as well as conducting logistics for ridiculous immersive art experiences.
Courtney has spent most of her Lore Olympus fandom life ranting (in the best possible way) about her style-adjacent theories on the official Discord. Recently, she created an Instagram account, Style_Olympus, to share her analyses with a wider audience.
Below is a collection of our favorite fashion theories she’s posited. We also talk with Courtney about what sparked her interest in style and Lore Olympus.
Highlights of our favorite Style_Olympus Findings
(paraphrased from her captions)
Threads of gold: When we see Persephone in the mortal realm, she often wears gold trimmings. This feels like a nod to the power and authority she holds in that realm. In her mother’s absence, she steps into the "boss" role. In consuming the pomegranate, gold pours down over her, pretty much the equivalent of the Underworld/Erobos baptizing her in the authority of the underworld.
Authority: When Hades came to Persephone at the hotel in episode 182, he enters her room with his crown in his hand. He wasn't coming to her as a king, he came to her as someone who loves her. While Persephone wore more gold during her time leading the Mortal Realm, on her way to the Underworld, she's dressed in chthonic colors and removed the gold, everything that marked her as an authority in the mortal realm. She doesn’t enter the Underworld as a queen or a leader, she enters as a woman who loves Hades. Later, in Tartarus after eating the pomegranate, she falls from a cliff. Her white outfit is beat and broken, almost ashen. When she rises in titan form, she's naked and white. However, that falls/melts away to her true color - all black. Full authority, full autonomy. All hail the Dread Queen.
Polo Collars: Polo collars act as a kind of shorthand for when someone is trapped and acting at the behest of someone else. Not button down shirts as in suits, but polo shirts. When we see Persephone in them, it's usually because she's performing or achieving in some way to please Demeter. When we see Hades in a polo collar, he's in a situation where he can't say no to Zeus, despite really, REALLY not wanting to deal with brunch. And when we meet Helios, we also see he's not only in a polo shirt, he's got a literal collar and chain as well. The jobs that call for those style shirts are usually customer facing and needing to please. In this case, the "customer" is someone in power over whoever's got the shirt on.
Artemis’ Ascension: The gown is a dead ringer for a 2020 Iris Van Herpen gown. She looks torn, vulnerable, exposed, and therefore guarded. Artemis' leaving is the second time Apollo has had a woman ascend out of his grasp. (honestly, four times, if you want to count Hera in episode 120 and Persephone in episode 204).
Eris & Persephone: Eris and baby Persephone bear a resemblance to each other. The cloak the nymphs gave Persephone when she fell to earth and the one they present her when they support her in going, are both a deep jewel toned red, a chthonic color. In episode 191, Persephone emerges from her treehouse in a shawl that arches behind her like dark wings. Then, when Eris swipes Persephone’s light pink dress, these are stylistic signs they're rubbing off on each other.
Hera & Hebe: Hera's outfits are so much fun, and some (but not all of) her looks tend to skew BIG. Big hats, big sleeves, big hair, bigger than life. Big. Fitting, seeing that she's the queen and even her daughter describes her as “outspoken,” something Hebe wishes she could be. And Hebe does still dress like her mother, but the streamlined version of Hera. We haven't seen Hebe go big (yet?).
Hermes and Respect: When Hermes shows up to deliver Persephone the news about the trial, he's in a suit, neat as a pin. When he shows up at the (goat rodeo of a) trial however, he's in shorts and a kitty tee. He extends respect and courtesy to Persephone and Hades, but he's got none of that for Zeus.
Persephone in Black: The most memorable time we see Persephone in black is her as Dread Queen. But we also see her in black robes on the nights when she shares her assault with Hera and then Hades as well. She wears hints of black when confronting Leto and meeting her therapist as well. The more we see Persephone in black, the more we see her flexing her autonomy.
Thanatos and his man bun: When we first meet Thanatos, he's a smug, smarmy thing, sporting a man bun with shaven back and sides. However, as he becomes disillusioned with Minthe and Thetis, his hair and overall look soften. As he starts hanging out with Daphne, his hair comes down and the severity of the bun itself eases up. We see this in his trial testimony too. As he gets messy and shares his real feelings, his bun falls apart.
When did your interest in fashion start?
I was always interested in the stories told through clothes. I’d create characters in my head and dress them as a form of escape, cut out outfits from catalogs and make DIY paper dolls (entertaining yourself was a whole different beast in the ‘80s). When I still worked in the corporate world, I’d use fashion more as a weapon: communicating through different cuts, fabrics, and accessories to present a certain persona. Clothes and how a person uses them tells a story. It can also compliment, contrast, or give nuance to a story, a character, or an underlying theme. I think because of that, my view of fashion and style is that they’re more a collection of tools versus anything trend based. For example, check out the pin collection of Madeleine Albright and/or Queen Elizabeth to get a grand versions of that kind of style communication.
What is the first connection you made with style and Lore Olympus?
I think it was the beginning of Season 2. On Discord, we were all screaming “WHERE IS PERSEPHONE?” We really wanted to see her. I started to think about how (and low key relate to) she was seen and by extension, managed. This was her first time out and away from anybody else’s influence, and I was excited to see how she defined herself. Closing in on Chapter 141 or so, It hit me she laid off wearing white and that green was showing up so regularly, so that’s where and when I started looking deeper at colors. I felt a little conspiracy theorist-esque about it in the beginning, because I wasn’t sure if my guesses were going to pan out, but as I got the feel for the green and white theories, I felt bolder digging in on later theories (like the black and gold).
What is your favorite theory/headcanon?
That Demeter parties/loves/brawls the hardest of the six traitors. She can drink all of them under the table. By extension, Persephone can hold her own. Hades is used to drinking fine things, whereas Persephone came up on moonshine, essentially. She’s got the stronger constitution out of the two of them. I also believe that Demeter is holding out on everybody. Dang near every question I have hinges on her!
What's special about the Lore Olympus fandom?
The joy. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. Lore Olympus in my mind is like a campfire, and everybody’s bringing what they love to share around the fire. Or they’re like Brenda: being an instigator to fun shenanigans!
Courtney is a death doula, life coach, and costuming enthusiast in Oakland. In her down time, she designs, builds, and then camps in teardrop trailers, as well as conducting logistics for ridiculous immersive art experiences. You can follow Courtney below, or strike up a conversation in the official Lore Olympus Discord, where she frequently gushes over new episodes in the fastpass channel:
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Courtney is a style and fashion addict, sharing some really interesting insights on Lore Olympus characters.