Editor's note: Per the Freelance Solidarity Project: "This piece was created during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn't exist." I'm not making any money from the Instagram Reel or this blog post of course, and D*sney isn't receiving any new royalties from the music used in the Reel because of how I did the audio. Though I'm not an influencer at all (union member or not), and despite the fact that I had been planning/working on this for several months, I was unsure of whether or not I should still post this given the ongoing strike. After looking up the guidelines set out by WGA and SAG-AFTRA for entertainment journalists and having conversations with other creators and some of my followers, and especially because the guild specifically said that they're not calling for a boycott at this point in time, I felt that this was an appropriate way to still celebrate the soundtrack I've loved so much for so many years that lots of super awesome skilled people worked on -- while still acknowledging the fight for labor rights. On July 19, 2013, a legend was born. Well, premiered -- Teen Beach Movie premiered on Disney Channel, that is. The movie tells of a modern-day teen couple that accidentally gets transported into the world of Wet Side Story: a 1960s, biker-versus-surfer version of the musical West Side Story. Unlike the original West Side Story, instead of the villain being race relations, the villain of Teen Beach Movie is the commercialization of public land (i.e. a lighthouse-dwelling scientist who wants to turn the beach that's beloved by surfer and biker alike into a beach resort). Is the conflict plausible? No. Is the acting good? Dubiously. Is the CGI even decent? Not at all. Is the wardrobe and hair/makeup period accurate? Questionable at best. But is the soundtrack absolutely banging? 100% yes. I kid you not, I listen to the soundtrack on a regular basis, and I know most of the lyrics by heart. I recently rewatched the movie with some friends, and one described my intimate familiarity with the songs as "creepy." Of course, I had to pay homage to Teen Beach Movie with a lookbook via Instagram Reel because if there's anything I love, it's dressing to a theme. Though the movie's set in the 1960s, the fashion feels like a vague mishmash of 40s to 60s ish. It's good to remember that IRL, there wasn't always the clear delineation from decade to decade like we often think it does in retrospect. However, despite the fact that a good portion of the characters' wardrobes is true vintage, I personally feel that some of the costumes look very Spirit Halloween costumey rather than historically "accurate" -- due in no small part to the hairstyling, makeup style, untucked shirts, and cut/rise/fit of the men's pants. For my outfits, I did one outfit per song, drawing inspiration from what the characters wear in that particular song. I definitely leaned more into the 1950s styling. I straight up just don't have a whole lot of 60s-style clothing, especially the leather biker stuff and tighter silhouettes. But in today's post, I'll be going outfit by outfit (AKA song by song) and how I translated the on-screen outfits to my style with what I already have in my wardrobe. If you haven’t already, watch the accompanying Instagram Reel! "Oxygen" (Intro Outfit)Forgive me, for I have sinned. All of these pictures are just stills from my video recordings. Dark blue aloha shirt: secondhand Denim and Flower Brown cropped ribbed tank top: secondhand Glassons via Depop Pleated khaki shorts with pearl belt: j.ing The song "Oxygen" plays in the beginning of the film as we see a fun cutesy little montage of the two leads, Maia Mitchell's Mack and Ross Lynch's Brady, surfing at the beach in the modern day. The two are wearing 2010s swimsuits and rash guards. As I wanted to wear a real outfit and not just a swimsuit, I opted for a basic beachy look. A cropped ribbed tank top with pleated khaki shorts is just so very summer, very outdoorsy to me. The aloha shirt makes the outfit more overtly beachy and also pays homage to the movie's setting of Hawaii. "Surf Crazy"1940s reproduction playsuit set: small shop Desolation Row, MTO using secondhand materials "Surf Crazy" is immediately performed by the surfers when Mack and Brady are transported to the world of Wet Side Story. It serves as the introduction for the surfer gang who're all wearing 60s-style swimsuits. Most importantly, the bottoms are all high-waisted with boyshort-length inseams. The bikini tops are (by modern standards) relatively modest; most aren't string bikinis or triangle bikinis. All of the surfers are in super bright or pastel colors and/or fun patterns. My 1940s reproduction playsuit set, which historically would've been reserved for the beach, from Desolation Row was an obvious choice for this with its bra-style top and high-waisted shorts. If it was a swimsuit fabric instead of cotton, it definitely could pass for a midcentury swimsuit. It is, however, a much more muted color palette than what the surfers actually wear in the movie (/what was more true to life in the 60s). "Cruisin' for a Bruisin'"Black and white striped tank top: secondhand New York & Company via my mom Black leather belt: secondhand via Cool & Collected Vintage Black wide leg jeans: boutique in China Black faux leather sock boots: Public Desire "Cruisin' for a Bruisin'" serves as the counterpart to "Surf Crazy," acting as the introduction for the surfers' rivals, the biker gang. The bikers have a very cohesive look that's reminiscent of stereotypical 1950s greasers, albeit in a very modern costumey way lol. They wear lots of leather, silver hardware, black denim, heeled boots, black, white, and bright primary red. Gracie Gillam (formerly known as Grace Phipps) as Lela is the only exception to that color scheme -- wearing pink -- because she's one of the romantic leads in Wet Side Story. As I don't own any (p)leather bottoms or the slim Capris that many of the girls in the biker gang wear at all, I opted for my wide leg faded black jeans instead; the silhouette is much, much wider than what the characters wear, but I famously very rarely ever wear slim bottoms. Inspired by one of the girls in the song who wears a red and white striped tank top, the black and white striped tank top I choose feels very late 50s/early 60s to me (ex: the striped swimsuit the OG 1959 Barbie wears). I feel that this particular scale of stripes was very popular in that period, and the silhouette, specifically the scrunching at the bust, also gives it that retro quality. My faux leather heeled sock boots fit in perfectly with what many of the girls wear in the song, and the black belt adds another leather element to the outfit. I was going to wear my faux leather jacket with silver hardware for this outfit, but I simply forgot to bring it to my campus house since I only use it once in a blue moon. "Falling for Ya"Black and white polka dot modern retro shirt dress: secondhand Maggie Tang via Depop Black and ivory spectator T-strap heels: BAIT Footwear Ione Classic Crinoline: Vixen by Micheline Pitt If I were held at gunpoint and commanded to pick my favorite song from the Teen Beach Movie soundtrack, I'd pick "Falling for Ya." You might recognize it from a trending TikTok audio (the song's intro is in the "my mom told me to just be myself and people would like me!" audio) or my Valentine’s Day outfits Reel from 2021. "Falling for Ya" is the scene where the 2 Wet Side Story leads are supposed to fall for each other when Lela, one of the biker girls, literally falls off the stage while singing and is caught by Tanner, one of the surfer boys. She wears a very stereotypical 1950s outfit: a primary red and white polka dot (halter neck?) swing dress with black pumps. Rather than the bodycon wiggle dresses and tighter silhouettes that the biker girls wear through the vast majority of the movie, including the backup singers in this song, her dress evokes more of a sweeter femininity that's more appropriate for this cutesy love song. My black and white polka dot shirt dress, plus a crinoline to give the skirt more volume, also evokes that quintessential 50s look. I do actually have red heels in a similar shade to the pair she wears, but the heel cap fell off some time ago, and I haven't gotten around to fixing it yet. Instead, I wore my BAIT Footwear Ione T-strap heels to still match the color of my dress and get that midcentury look. My Focusrite Scarlett microphone served as my prop, and it just happens to be black and red -- just like the bikers' color scheme! "Meant to Be"Red Hawaiian print halter dress: secondhand vintage 1950s (unkonwn brand) via La Havana Vintage Crinoline: Vixen by Micheline Pitt In "Meant to Be," the 4 main characters (Mack + Brady from the modern real world, Lela + Tanner from the musical) sing on the beach about finding their true loves and when they know that the love they're sharing with someone is "meant to be." Both Lela and Mack are wearing the dresses they were wearing in "Falling for Ya" -- for the former, that same red and white polka dot halter dress, and for the latter, a true 60s vintage autumnal-toned, large-scale Hawaiian print dress. I went with a true 50s vintage dress that was from vintage seller La Havana Vintage on Instagram. It’s a red Hawaiian print halter neck shirt dress, so it incorporates both the red and halter silhouette of Lela's dress and the Hawaiian print of Mack's dress. Again, I wore a crinoline to add volume to the skirt. Originally, I was going to pair the dress with brown leather sandals, but as this song takes place at the beach, enough of the characters are barefoot that going shoeless felt appropriate. "Like Me"Oversized white linen shirt: secondhand Free People via clothing swap organized by school club Red and white striped T-shirt: Asos Dark wash balloon jeans: Asos "Like Me” is kind of like Grease's "Summer Nights" in that it's a back-and-forth between the main boy (Brady)/the other boys and the main girl (Mack)/the other girls. But instead of singing about their summertime fling, they sing about gender roles in dating, with each time period's people insisting they are the ones who truly know what the opposite gender likes. While the Wet Side Story characters change corresponding costumes multiple times throughout the song, the modern characters mostly stay in the same outfit to further visually differentiate their modern social beliefs from the conservative ones of the 60s characters. The girls' portion of the scene is set during a sleepover with the biker girls and features 2 sets of costumes: 1) vintage style flowy chiffon nightwear, and 2) quintessential 60s wear as a mix of halter neck dresses, wiggle dresses, and tight (faux) leather, again in the bikers' color scheme of black/red/white. I literally don't anything resembling any of those pieces, so I turned to the guys' outfits instead. The boys' portion with the surfers is set at the beachside restaurant where they all hang out. Their first outfit is composed of plaid shorts (there's something very historically off about them -- I'm pretty sure I wore the same exact shorts that they're wearing when I was in 6th grade in the early 2010s) and a bright, solid-colored short-sleeve button-up shirt. Their second outfit is a light-toned aloha shirt with white shorts. Again, I don't own any of those items. Thus, the outfit I recreated is -- what I dub -- the boy band moment after the bridge. 3 of the surfer boys are slowly revealed on the stage, donned in white blazers, blue and white striped tees, straight leg, dark wash cuffed jeans, and white canvas(?) boat shoes. As I didn't have any white/ivory blazers on hand, I substituted it with an oversized linen shirt. Instead of the blue and white striped T-shirt, I wore a red and white one, which actually is one of the first items I bought when I started my personal style journey in 2019. The balloon jeans I chose are the only dark blue wash jeans I own. They definitely don't match the silhouette, and they're too tight at the hem to cuff, but the high rise and very structured denim twill still gets that general look across. Lastly, I wore my white Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers as I don't have white boat shoes. Throughout the movie, the boys, among both the surfers and the bikers, usually are wearing some form of canvas sneaker, so Converse are perfect. "Can't Stop Singing"Red and white gingham crop top: Petite Studio (formerly Petite Studio NYC) Light wash denim shorts: boutique in China Beige and ivory saddle shoes: secondhand Eastland via eBay Crochet heart ruffle socks: Sock Dreams The beginning of "Can’t Stop Singing" has been another trending TikTok audio though most are unaware that it comes from Teen Beach Movie. In this song, Mack and Brady realize that they've been in the Wet Side Story universe for so long that, just like Persephone in Tartarus, they, too, are spontaneously singing and dancing like the movie musical's native inhabitants. Mack wears white tailored midcentury shorties shorts and a scoop neck crop top with a ruffled hem. To best evoke the tone and vibe of her shorts, I opted for light wash denim shorts. I paired the shorts with a gingham crop top with a ruffle peplum hem, just like Mack's. Plus, the square neck somewhat mimics the lower neckline of Mack's scoop neck, and the red and white gingham pattern vaguely resembles the white XO pattern of her green top. At one point in the song, just as all great musical numbers do, the characters suddenly burst into choreographed tap dance. Brady wears black and white spectator Oxford-style tap shoes, so my ivory and beige saddle shoes were an obvious choice. And of course, my Makala Shark ukulele in the color "surf green" (yes, that's the colorway's actual name) was just perfect for this song. "Surf's Up" (Outro Outfit)Emerald green romper/playsuit: Lisa Plain Playsuit from Collectif "Surf's Up" legitimately serves no point to the plot of the movie. Mack and Brady are back in the modern world, so all the characters are wearing their ugly 2010s Disney Channel outfits, all the conflicts are resolved, yada yada. It's just a fun, playful dance number for the cast to have their last musical hurrah at the end of the movie. Originally, I was going to recreate the athleticwear look that some of the girls are wearing: a pair of bright mid rise running shorts, a gaudy bright tank top, and a contrasting, garishly neon sports bra/bikini top. However, I simply could not degrade myself with an outfit like that; my body is a temple that deserves to be treated with the proper respect. Instead, I opted for a midcentury-inspired romper/playsuit from retro brand Collectif. She is SO cute with her heart patch pockets, ruffled straps, and body-conscious fit. It certainly does not fit into the look the characters wear in "Surf's Up," but I knew I wanted to incorporate this romper at some point since it is so quintessentially 1950s summer style. And I'm glad I did! Well, I hope you now share my appreciation for the beauty that is Teen Beach Movie. While some of the outfits here are more aligned with my personal style than others, it’s still fun to gain inspiration from the media that you love! Even when you don’t have the exact pieces, interpreting the outfits you see in movies is a great way to discover new ways of styling your already-existing wardrobe -- or simply serve as a good excuse to embrace your power as the costumer for your own life. Life imitates art that imitates life.
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about @glowyminoI have dry skin and very dry and textured lips. I also have a medium-light skintone (somewhere in the realm of NC25-30) with strong warm yellow/olive undertones. I have a tendency to prefer a glowy, lightweight base and color cosmetics in shades of a warm undertone. Read more about me in the about page! Archives
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