whimsy dressing (d.): the act of dressing oneself to display an outward appearance of whimsy. denotes a playful, carefree self expression through unconventional and bold combinations of color, texture, and proportion.
playfulness is a defining feature of her fashion pre-pilot. her hair is styled in pigtails during the chat about tai’s plan to prevent allie from playing, pigtail braids during soccer practice, then let loose and clipped with a yellow hair pin for the pep rally. contrasting the ponytails (taissa, jackie, shauna, allie) or short hair (natalie) the rest of the team wears suggests an eccentric personality—one she can only express socially through altering her appearance. control over her clothing choice allows her to mask her neurodivergence in neurotypical society, as she has been taught the way she thinks about and processes the world is “abnormal.”
lottie is high in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and moderate in introversion during the start of the pilot, which allow her to fit into neurotypical society despite having to mask her mental health issues. her first explicit example of this is through her pink outfit at mari’s birthday party, which is vibrantly colored with a thick fuzzy short sleeve top and pink mini skirt. the victoria’s secret pjs and other pink tops she wears can be seen as her final act of “masking” due to the faith laura lee has inspired that they will soon be rescued.
afterward, she begins to dress in light pastel colored floral maxi dresses during the summer and a large animal hide coat in the winter. the long dresses emphasize her height, while the thickness of the coat adds an appearance of strength and exaggerated size. these elements combined create wilderness lottie—positioned above the rest of the group through a visual and emotional appeal to religious authority.
in the adult timeline, she regains this sense of religious power and authority by posing as “intentional living” community leader, long flowing dresses paired with lightweight shawls and dainty jewelry to induce a sense of safety and security in her new recruits.
when she loses her community and attempts to manipulate callie to resurrect it, she first begins with a sleepover in mushroom pjs. when this fails due to shauna’s reluctance, lottie drops this trendy “one of the girls” persona and wears a large fur coat implied to have been shoplifted. instead of appealing to callie’s age, she’s now appealing to callie’s lack of motherly support by contrasting herself as a warm, free, more flexible mother figure as compared to shauna. her return to flowing dresses now combined with lavish gold jewelry present a sense of prestige further distinguishing her from shauna.
