Fans of the hit drama Succession have become accustomed to the “stealth wealth” style of fashion its characters often employ to showcase their financial status.
But during the series finale on Sunday night (28 May), Roy sibling Roman (played by Kieran Culkin) stood out by wearing a T-shirt that appeared distinctly different from his usual fashion choices.
Eagle-eyed viewers have now discovered that the garment in question – a pale blue T-shirt with multicoloured striped sleeves – is in fact found in the kid’s section of Walmart.
Culkin’s character wears the T-shirt during a scene at his mother’s home in the Caribbean. In stark contrast, Roman’s brother Kendall Roy (played by Jeremy Strong) wears a dark suit and sister Siobhan Roy (played by Sarah Snook) wore a blue linen shirt over smart white linen trousers.
The T-shirt worn by Roman retails at US$13.96 (£11.30) and is now sold out in most sizes on the Walmart website. However, the retail giant still carries a pale pink version with stripes in a different colourway.
On social media, fans were shocked and delighted by the sartorial decision to put Culkin in a child’s T-shirt that is affordable for the masses.
“Roman was wearing a US$13 shirt from Walmart [cry emoji]. This has to be the cheapest piece of [clothing] on the entire show,” one person wrote.
“Stuff you absolutely didn’t have on your Succession bingo card: Roman’s finale shirt was from Wally World,” another said.
A third pointed out: “This costume choice is interesting as even during holiday scenes, Roman has worn button-up shits mostly. And him being ridiculously rich, he would only really wear plain US$600 T-shirts. But this T-shirt here is colourful with stripes , something a kid would wear.”
According to the show’s costume designer Michelle Matland, Culkin has had a “very personal” say in choosing what his character wears.
She told Motion Pictures: “Roman is the most casual uniformed guy on the planet. He is just movin through the room. He has no agenda at all with anyone; he’s simply his own beast.
“We have a closet for Roman and Kieran will rummage through it for hours. He’s very personal in selecting, and that takes a lot of time.”
The series finale of Succession aired on Max on Sunday 29 May. The Independentgave the episode four out of five stars and described it as a “poetic, violent last episode”.
