Between Two Palms

how to wear totally far out psychedelic 60s fashion and not feel like you're going to a costume party

Apr 03, 2024

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Before we dive into this week’s newsletter, I wanted to be transparent and mention that I’ve been accepted into an affiliate link program (thank you, Ashley!) and going forward, I may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase anything on Etsy (and potentially Net-a-Porter) through my newsletter.

I know the topic of sponsorships and affiliate links in the Substack world is hot hot hot but my hope is to be able to further fund the development of Trash Panic through this! I lovingly dedicate a lot of time to this special little corner of the internet to share with you without a paywall and hope you will continue to support Trash Panic’s growth alongside me!

Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading.

Love u, now let’s get into the good stuff!

a song, to get you in the mood…

While I consider myself a lover of moody, dreary weather, there comes a point every gloomy season where I find myself dreaming of a hot desert oasis and the smell of dewy sunscreen.

The sun is shining today in Minnesota, but it’s a casual 22 degrees outside and the snow from the weekend storm has yet to melt, casting a very bright reflection throughout our home, confirming that my body is, in fact, craving Vitamin D— without a side of fluffy snowfall.

It doesn’t help that we just started watching Apple TV’s psychedelic 60s period show, Palm Royale. While the cast is without question utterly stacked with legends, including Carol Burnett, Kristen Wiig and Ricky Martin, the storyline comes in dead last compared to the costumes, wigs, and set design of the show.

The show follows a washed up Tennessee pageant queen, Maxine Dellacorte Simmons (Kristen Wiig), as she lies and cons her way into Palm Beach high society. And while there’s some context lacking in character development and some campy acting, even from the greats, the costuming is so mesmerizing I don’t really care that I’m not fully hooked on the plot.

I have been in deep mourning since The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ended and while I attempted to fill that void with yet another full rewatch of Mad Men, I remembered very quickly the ennui that comes after completing all seven seasons of one of the greatest television shows to ever air.

Slim Aarons photo of partygoers by a pool. — Palm Springs, Slim Aarons, 1970.

Palm Royale’s visual aesthetic immediately transports you straight into the viewfinder of Slim Aarons’ Leica. Aarons might actually be a bit of a kindred spirit to Maxine Dellacorte Simmons — born to Jewish immigrants in a tenement on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Aarons escaped his difficult, impoverished childhood and decided to rewrite his origin story by charming his way into the highest of high society with his enchanting personality. He spent most of his life and career capturing vibrant photographs that gave insight into the lavish homes and social lives of the richest families around the world. (No one found out he had twisted the tales of his childhood until after his death. Very impressive imo.)

The opening shot of Palm Royale — a direct nod to the above Slim Aarons photograph.

Though Aarons’ work now tends to be overproduced and sold at CB2 and plastered all over cheesy over-the-top midcentury airbnbs, the vibes remain! He gave us a peek into interiors and fashion that remain classically timeless even in modern life. (I would highly recommend this coffee table book of some of his best photographs.)

Though I lean more Palm Springs (my desert happy place and technical birth place) than Palm Beach, the 1960s retro vibes of this show make me want to pack up my best psychedelic mini dress and jet set to a desert pool. (Preferably this one. Or this one.)

Costume designers rarely get the credit they deserve for bringing a show to life, especially when it comes to period shows. To this day, costume designer for Mad Men, Janie Bryant, frequently posts tidbits on her Instagram about the vintage sourcing she did to make sure the costuming was not only correct for the exact time period, but perfectly fit each and every character as they developed through the story. As if the show couldn’t have been any more perfect….

For Palm Royale, costume designer Alix Friedberg said her biggest source for costuming was Etsy. We stan a true vintage enthusiast girly!! According to this interview with Harper’s, most of the costumes in the show are original, including the entirety of background actors.

There’s just something about the 60s! While I can directly correlate my love for the era with being raised by my grandmother, Bewitched, and I Dream of Jeannie, I recently came to the realization that being a kid in the 1990s meant that the swingin’ 60s hadn’t been all that long ago — the architecture, graphic design and sartorial silhouettes weren’t old. We are lucky to have so much from the decades before us that are pristine, well made, and looking for a new chapter of life.

(Enter: the Trash Panic of knowing this era will be defined by Shein, H&M, and Zara 😵‍💫 plus the heartbreaking devastation that every steeped-in-luxurious-wood midcentury building is being bulldozed and replaced by ugly-boxes-made-out-of-particleboard. I’m looking at you, Bay Area.)

Agnes Moorehead as Endora in Bewitched and Barbara Eden as Jeannie in I Dream of Jeannie.

I think wearing clothes that are so blatantly plucked out of a distinguishable time period can feel very intimidating. As someone who regularly fights the “please don’t perceive me” feels whilst in public, it is 10000% difficult to walk out the door in something bold, bright, wacky, wonderful, colorful knowing that people will stop and stare. For decades, I have longed to rock bold colors, short skirts, and whimsical silhouettes that would make Barbara Eden proud, but I have never ever ever been brave enough to pull them out of my closet and walk out the door in them — until vacation.

I believe vacation to be the perfect place to begin exploring your personal style through experimenting with vintage. And no, it doesn’t have to be a big lavishly luxurious vacation to a sexy destination. Vacation to me is literally just be a place that is not home — a drive 30 minutes up the coast, a picnic lunch, a day at the beach, dinner at a bougie restaurant. There is something about being in a place where you aren’t likely to run into someone you know where all bets are off.

Even though every stranger everywhere is a stranger, there’s something about a stranger on vacation that hits different. Let them stare! They’re probably just jealous you walked out the door in your feather trimmed caftan and they didn’t. I learned this when we went on a trip to Palm Springs years ago and I finally wore the ridiculous rainbow mini dress with crazy platform shoes and everyone stared but I didn’t care because I felt great!! I was free!! I had confidence!! The exposure therapy worked!!

Available for iOS and Android

So here’s a bunch of wacky wild wonderful whimsical retro finds perfect for your next weekend, a Tuesday afternoon when the sun hits that perfect 75 degrees, or a date night where you’re feeling particularly carefree. I thought it might work best to style these out how I would wear them (more retro whimsy, less “new generation, old money”, if you know what I mean) so you can see how to make it not feel as costumey - I’ve also included some firsthand pieces to complete the vibe (most of them are luxury goods but it’s more for an idea of what you could do and less because I think you should buy $1,200 clogs!!)

Some personal tips for making vintage fit into your wardrobe and not feel like you walked off a movie set:

Tailor a piece to feel more modern while still honoring the vintage era. This could mean hemming a maxi dress to be a midi length, taking a knee length skirt suit and hemming it into a mini, taking the sleeves off something, etc etc
Avoid wearing head to toe vintage and a vintage hairstyle and/or makeup. It will likely feel like too much! (Unless you feel wonderful, in which case - go big! I love seeing a retro vibe irl)
Pair it with something funky that’s modern. It will feel like you’re paying homage without feeling like you’re going to a costume party. (A Gucci platform, funky Dries Van Noten heel, or sleek laid back The Row flat.)
Unfortunately, the 60s/70s were the peak of polyester. Make sure to check the fabric contents of what you’re after - polyester maxi dresses in 90+ degrees are particularly unpleasant.

vintage empire waist floral dress | vintage pearl earrings | loewe sunglasses | metallic gold tkees sandals | vintage wicker ball basket bag

vintage emilio pucci silk blouse | vintage cigarette pants | loewe sunglasses | marni sneakers | vintage fish wicker novelty bag

(By now it’s relatively well known that buying designer sunglasses is a rip off - it’s all the same acetate, you’re just paying for the name. That being said, Jonathan Anderson knows what he’s doing at Loewe because the sunglasses are GOOD. If you feel the same, you can be like me and obsessively check The Real Real for discounted ones!)