What the Handbags Reveal About The White Lotus Social Order

Let’s get the obvious part out of the way. Every guest on The White Lotus, whether it is through marriage, moxie, mooching, or murder, is pretty rich. No surprise there; a certain level of wealth is a prerequisite to spending a week in a place like this. But deep pockets only get you in the door. They have no bearing on your chances of survival—socially speaking, but also given this show’s MO, quite literally—in this cutthroat milieu. The White Lotus ecosystem operates on a different kind of currency that is harder to pinpoint. It’s not as simple as old money vs. nouveau riche. Nor is it about levels of fame or the quality of an education. It’s deeper, more insidious, characterized by a kind of je ne sais quoi that has been carefully crafted through a combination of guile, expendable income, and a deluded sense of self. Let’s call it a deranged one percenter’s version of enlightenment.

And while Mike White’s simmering storylines have been peeling back the layers on these characters with every new episode, it’s the handbags that have proved particularly revealing about this set. Credit goes to costume designer Alex Bovaird, who has cleverly used the most conspicuous of luxury accessories to deliver the subtlest clues about the hierarchy of these women. (We are ignoring the men here since it has become quite clear at this point that they are all some form of LBH—a Loser Back Home.) Below, a ranking of where each woman currently falls on the social stratum based on her designer bag choices.

Chelsea

Our gold digger with a heart of gold might be the only adult guest here (minus Piper) with anything resembling a moral core. If this were a ranking of characters based on their proximity to actual enlightenment, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) would come out on top. In the real world, her empathy and compassion are valiant attributes; but we’re not in the real world, are we? In The White Lotus, these things just make you hopelessly green.

Chelsea’s free-spirited naiveté shows through in her boho-chic wardrobe of colorful pareos and JW Anderson crochet totes, and her relative groundedness is mirrored in her disregard for conspicuously expensive labels (except for that snake choker she covets in episode 2). How this translates to her chances of getting through the week remains to be seen. “I could never cheat on Rick. I’m a romantic,” Chelsea says in episode 5, in defiance of Chloe’s pleas for her to have some fun with the Ratliff brothers. To which Chloe replies: “When I was modeling, all the girls who were romantic ended up broke and broken-hearted. Or worse.”

Laurie

Laurie (T&C cover star Carrie Coon) technically should be higher up on the White Lotus food chain. She is a Manhattan-based corporate lawyer (passed over for partner, as Kate and Jaclyn were quick to gossip about, but impressive nonetheless) who is putting a kid through private school and paying spousal support to a deadbeat ex. She is a self-made success, and has brought along her arsenal of designer bags to prove it. Yet the harder Laurie clings to her four-figure purses, the more obvious it becomes that they are her security blankets. Her way of saying, “Look at me, I belong here.”

The evidence increasingly points to the contrary. Laurie’s handbag choices suggest she is constantly one step behind her two friends. The size is a little off, or the color not quite right, or it’s just so wrong for the occasion, like when she wears her Goyard backpack for a trip into town and ends up getting soaked in the crossfires of a village water gun fight. Speaking of which, only on The White Lotus does a Goyard—the ne plus ultra of quiet luxury signifiers IRL—turn into the loudest billboard for insecurity. (Remember Alexandra’s green Saint Louis tote in season 1?)

Laurie is as dependent on her handbags as she is on wine.

Kate

Kate (Leslie Bibb) possesses all the polish and hauteur of a Texas socialite. She probably auditioned to be a Real Housewife and got her entire Thailand wardrobe through her personal stylist at Neiman’s. Still, despite those Cartier Love bracelets and Valentino totes, she remains the Gretchen Wieners to Jaclyn’s Regina George. At best she can keep up with Jaclyn in appearances (and spending), but she will never quite emerge from her shadow. To be fair, though, Kate seems rather content with this arrangement, playing simultaneous instigator and mediator between Laurie and Jaclyn.

Kate radiates middle child energy with her people pleasing tendencies and meticulous wardrobe.

Victoria

Victoria (Parker Posey) should be higher on this list just by virtue of her Deep South old money pedigree and her unflappable certainty about her place in life—and the permanence of it. For Victoria, a Gucci bamboo bag is not a status symbol (her oversized $43,000 gold Rolex Day-Date says plenty already) but merely a means of transport for her lorazepam. She definitely doesn’t need to rotate a new designer bag each day, à la Laurie, to prove herself (though the fact that her chosen one is gleaming white is a flex). This is a woman who uses a Louis Vuitton handbag to stash her toiletries.

But Mike White’s crescendo-ing narrative, of course, tells a different story. If Victoria thought her daughter’s post-grad plan to move to a Thai buddhist temple was an earth-shattering bombshell, she’s got another thing coming.

A vintage Louis Vuitton Vernis Astor Place bag serves as Victoria’s toiletry case.

Chloe

Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon), the alleged escort-turned-girlfriend of Gary-né-Greg, rarely carries a handbag. That, in itself, is an OG move, signaling an indifference toward basic materialistic concerns. Which is ironic given the nature of her relationship with “Gary,” but also kind of genius: Who needs a 2.55 when you live in a glass palace on the hill and can ferry around an $18 million yacht like it’s your personal water taxi? Plus, a purse-free fit allows Chloe to exude an air of detachment and independence. Of course these are still privileges afforded to her thanks to Gary—or rather, to the late Tanya McQuoid.

Whether or not Chloe actually knows how her beau came into his impressive fortune, she remains acutely aware of the reality of her situation. As much as she craves a sense of freedom and fun—as we have seen, she will go to great lengths to cure her ennui—she knows to continue playing this game no matter what. Because it can all go away with one wrong move and there is nothing Chloe seems to fear more than to end up “broke and broken-hearted. Or worse.”

Jaclyn

Jaclyn’s innate understanding of power dynamics and social capital is perfectly encapsulated in the Erewhon tote she casually slings over her shoulder for the trio’s eventful night on the town. She gets it: a $52 bag from the bougiest grocery store in America speaks volumes more than a $10,000 Bottega (though she has one of those too, which she uses as a beach tote).

Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) was clearly the queen bee in high school—and she has not yet conceded that title. This trio’s dynamic is expertly conveyed early on, in the way each woman reacts when she overhears the other two gossiping behind her back. Laurie lets out a wail. Kate looks utterly devastated. Jaclyn just smirks and moves on.

And unlike Victoria, whose insouciance is derived from a heavy dependence on benzodiazepine, and Chloe, whose carefree sangfroid is only possible through the generosity of a mercurial older man, Jaclyn, for all we know, has mastered her unique brand of sprezzatura on her own. And while this list is not about money, per se, let’s not forget she also happens to be the only woman here who is footing the bill.

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