www.harpersbazaar.com: Costume designer Alix Friedberg was working on a different project alongside Jean-Marc Vallée when the Big Little Lies director died in December 2021. So she suddenly found herself available when fellow Lies alum Laura Dern reached out about a new series—a period comedy Dern was producing about the Slim Aarons–esque world of Palm Beach in 1969. “I didn’t even need to read the script,” Friedberg tells Harper’s Bazaar. “It was like, ‘Oh my God—yes, yes, yes!’ ”
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This seems like such a stunning show to watch with beautiful visuals. The photos oof the costumes in this article are really inspiring and make me realize how much a love some late ‘60s fashion. I’m a fan of the show Big Little Lies, and I had no idea that the director had recently passed away. That is quite heartbreaking, but I’m glad that the people on the show, like Alix Reiedberg and Laura Dern, are able to continue to collaborate together. I also really enjoyed learning about Reiedberg’s design process. It was interesting to hear that she always starts off with the Western Costume Co. Research Library Archive. That is good to know. I will now know where to look for costume research. I also found it quite surprising that she was able to find a lot of the clothing for this show, and a lot of it came from looking on Etsy. That would not be where I would first go to look for vintage clothes, but I guess I’m mistaken.
It’s so cool and interesting reading about a show’s research on costumes for the show, and also learning about they steps they took to find and source the clothing. Looking through archives and old magazine is such as crucial step that I always seem to overlook when doing such research, but when I do, it almost always pulls through with very useful information. I never thought Etsy was the way to go for looking for vintage designer clothing, but then again, I’ve never used Etsy to buy anything before, so I wouldn’t know too much. I have a couple friends who did underwater filming before, and they’ve all said that the costume is hardest to get right underwater, because its really hard to control, as the water changes the look almost entirely. My school had us have swimming lessons in long sleeved shirts and pants to learn how to save ourselves if we ever came into the situation, and that was really difficult because of all the excess fabric, so I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be for the actors.
I had not heard of the television show “Palm Royale'' before this moment but the headline and the opening picture intrigued me. I absolutely love period piece film and tv shows and I have a special place in my heart for 50-70s fashion as I love a lot of the silhouettes and patterns and textiles that are featured in those eras. I think that this costume designer was really smart to look at Etsy because there are so many absolutely talented craftsmen that dedicate their craft to accurate period clothing reproductions, as well as some talented vintage sellers who spend hours combing through stores and websites for authentic and interesting pieces. I looked up what this show was and I think it is so cool, gives me very Taylor Jenkins Reid vibes, and I will definitely be checking it out since I loved reading her books, I believe watching those same vibes in such a visually interesting way will feel very appealing.
The pictures of the costumes look incredible, and I’d probably watch the show just to see the different costumes. I love the fact that they used Etsy to source many of the costumes for this show, not only are vintage pieces getting a new life, but more material isn’t being consumed. That’s a big reason I enjoy antiques and vintage items; plus, just seeing things from a different era can be so eye opening. While I don’t use Etsy for vintage clothes, I do, at times, use it for antiques and other handmade things. My stepmom actually ran an Etsy shop for a while, and I would help her with it when I would visit. It’s where my love for antiques came from. It always amazes me how much research goes into period pieces in order to make them authentic, and I think all that extra work only makes them better.
I had previously never heard of palm royale, but it definitely seems like such a cool world for one to immerse themselves in. Just from looking at stills from the miniseries, I love the color palette and the fun 1960s vibe. It was interesting to hear how specific the research had to get for the costume design of the show. Even though it took place in the 1960s, according to the costume designer, “Palm Beach was Kind of this bubble”. It is always cool to explore how politics, economics, and other events in the world affect fashion, how people choose to present themselves and what is trending. The idea that they were a plastic society where the stress of reality elsewhere did not bother them is interesting and would lead way to other creative ways of thinking out what that would look like. When I saw still, it did remind me of the Barbie movie, which now makes a lot of sense.
There's actually makes so much sense! Etsy is genuinely such a good source for people who are looking for vintage and or period costumes. doesn't even have to be costumes, it could be props, or anything else. That's super cool and very resourceful. I personally haven't used etsy that much but I know lots of people who do, and I know how much they stand by it. I honestly think I stand by Etsy too even though I don't use it that much. It is a super awesome website, and allows for many small business creators, or people who just want to sell certain things to flourish. It is incredibly creative and really cool to see everything that you can there. I didn't think you could find almost anything on etsy. as I said in the beginning of this it definitely makes lots of sense that a vintage costume designer has lots of costume fines through etsy. I also like the questions they ask in this article. It does seem to be kind of like an interview, and it's in a fun way with engaging costume questions!
Alix Friedberg is super inspirational to me, not because I want to become a costume designer, but because of the talent and creativity that comes from every costume choice she makes. Sourcing all her costumes from Etsy, everything is real vintage. I like the authenticity of using time-accurate costumes, especially telling from the details and quality of the piece. Also, Friedberg is not a well-known All-Star designer, which also adds to the authenticity, an artist makes their best work when first coming up/ first using their learned skills and getting a chance to show the world. This is the same for anyone in the artistic field. The most experimental as well as best art comes out of this process. The way she collaborated with the other parts of the design process is also inspiring, she could place her costumes in the set and could really imagine how it would add to the themes of the show.
This was such a cool read! I love reading about designers’ processes, and the costume design articles posted for newsquiz are always a go to favorite, and I feel like I learn so much from each one! Period pieces are awesome, I’d love to design for period shows in the future. The research on fashion history is just so cool, and I feel like period films hold such strong aesthetics through the clothing, and so much of the story can be told through what the characters are wearing. Also its so cool that they got so so much of their stock from Etsy! I love Etsy as a platform, it’s such a great place to find cool unique things, and artists trying to sell their work, and also apparently a ton of 60’s clothing! I’ll have to go on and do a vintage clothing deep dive. It’s always fascinating learning more about where costume designers source their pieces, and Etsy is a new one, and I’m so glad it’s made the list.
I think its super cool that she was able to find so many pieces on Etsy. I love reading about costume buying and how people source things. Etsy is such a convenient place. I tend to think of etsy as quite expensive but if it works it works. Online shopping really does save time. Instead of having to send assistants all across the tri state area scouring vintage shops, they can just find it online. When I think of vintage shops I actually think of Ebay not Etsy. I wonder why they chose to use etsy over ebay. The rest of the costumes for this show are super cool. I love how extravagant they are. It’s really interesting to hear the designer talk about exactly how flamboyant she wanted the costumes to be and how she made them happen. I know nothing about the plot of this show or the characters but just from hearing the costume designer talk I can gauge what it may be about.
I am not going to lie I got sidetracked real quick when I was reading this article. I went on a deep dive into the Western Costume Co. Research Library & Archive’s website. I loved their little decade by decade glimpses into their archives for that time period. Okay now going back to the article, I honestly have never deep dived into Etsy. I am familiar with other online clothing stores, such as Depop or Poshmark however I did not know that clothes were sold on Etsy. I mean I know that Etsy sells most everything but I guess I always assumed that Etsy was for makers, where small businesses could sell made products. I love that costume designers are using already existing things to bring to life new designs. As the entertainment industry is so incredibly wasteful, it is nice to see even one show that reuses old clothing items.
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