The fashion in Sirens, the new Netflix dark comedy everyone is talking about, is hyper-real …
If the fashion on Netflix’s Sirens – the new dark comedy starring Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy and Kevin Bacon – has taught us anything it’s that one-shouldered gowns are the zenith of a preternatural elegance. And if you’re a Gwyneth Paltrow trope/figurehead/potential cult leader, as represented by Moore’s Michaela Kell (“Hey-hey”), then you’d best dress in neutral colours that speak to quiet luxury.
So far, so predictable? However, it’s interesting how the outfits on Sirens veer into a Stepford Wives aesthetic that, if not being aspirational, at least commits to a theme. When Meghann Fahy’s rebellious character Devon arrives on the fictional island of Port Haven in search of her sister Simone, she is dressed in all black. Her biker boots, smudged liner and flash of bra (not so subtly) signal a punk attitude. Something, we learn as the episodes go on, is rooted in deep familial trauma. In fact, one of her first questions to her estranged sister is to question why everyone on this idyllic, Martha’s Vineyard-coded island looks like an Easter egg.
She’s not wrong, either. Michaela’s acolytes are dressed in acid bright pastels, twee shift dresses and accessorise with hairbands and jewellery adorned in cupcake charms. The vibe is as if Blair Waldorf and the surrealistic tones of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie had a love-child. It’s all part of the hyper-real aesthetic realised within the very first few moments of the show, when Moore stands on the edge of a cliff, in a hazy wash of soft light, releasing a bird of prey into the wild. The look is so ridiculous, at first it’s refreshing. While watching it, one jumps to the conclusion that, narratively and visually, Sirens is going all in. Whether that commitment is realised as all five episodes progress, is another question.
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The show cherry-picks designers that benefit its dress codes – and characters. Moore’s Michaela wears maxi dresses from Chloé, while Simone, her painfully dedicated PA, dons a pink dress from Lilly Pulitzer’s collaboration with Goop. Meanwhile, Ethan, played to perfection by Glenn Howerton doubles down on WASP attire by wearing a blazer emblazoned with duck motifs. As for Michaela’s acolytes? They dress identically, speak in interchangeable, hushed tones and utter meaningless platitudes on repeat. A rather appropriate nod to dressing in the algorithm age. We may scoff but I will note that I did admire the cut on Fahy’s mustard Breton T-shirt she wears in the final episode, dressed casually in jeans as she embraces the island’s – coastal grandma? Sailorcore? – dress codes. I guess we all have our tribe.
