Sirens: What’s the deal with the Lilly Pulitzer dresses and those lockets?

Sirens is visually so pleasing that it's like a fever dream, but an aesthetic one. We rarely get shows that look this good and have an equally interesting plot. As gorgeous as it is on the surface, it’s just as deep with its layers.

It is a story about three women who end up on an island. There is sunshine, morning jogs, and plenty of charity events. But as bright as the show looks with all its colors, its meaning is just as dark. There is manipulation, trauma, and womanhood in the guise of perfection. Sirens lets you sit with the unease of not knowing who’s what.

This brings us to the elephant in the room: Lilly Pulitzer. It's almost as if the ghost of the American socialite turned designer haunts this show. Lilly Pulitzer was the queen of resortwear in the 1960s when she started selling bright floral dresses.

But those frocks became a sort of code for rich white women who wanted to look effortless. In Sirens, every scene is dressed in it. The island women glide around in those loud and cheery patterns.

So, let's know why Lilly Pulitzer was used in the show by the creator.

Sirens: The Lilly Pulitzer dresses and those lockets

Creator of Sirens, Molly Smith Metzler, explained in an interview with Variety that the show’s aesthetic roots are from real life. She shared:

"Quite simply, I spent a summer in Martha’s Vineyard and I’ve since spent some summers in Nantucket. My best friend has a house there, and it’s for real. Lilly Pulitzer is for real. They all have it on in Nantucket. Then there’s the Nantucket reds, the salmon color pants. The first time you see it, you’re like, “Where am I?” It’s so bright. It’s sort of like, if you’ve been there, you’re in on the joke, you know the pants to buy."

She added:

"It also takes a certain status to put on a dress like the one Simone has on when we meet her. It’s ridiculous. I love Lilly, I have some Lilly, but it’s a little ridiculous. There’s something so saturated and bright about it. We’re so fortunate Carolyn Duncan, our costume designer, took that and just ran with it – most of the stuff on the show that looks like Lilly Pulitzer is actually custom."

Metzler wasn’t exaggerating when she called it “ridiculous,” but also kind of fabulous. It’s bright, it’s saturated, it’s slightly absurd, and yet, it’s also a language of status.

When Devon arrives on the island, she's all awkward and out of place. She has been given a Lilly-coded uniform to wear. She's given bright floral dresses, a hair band, and a little locket. So, she's basically putting on a persona to fit in.

Costume designer of Sirens, Carolyn Duncan, took Lilly Pulitzer’s aesthetic and pushed it just far enough to turn it slightly into satire, but without losing that glamor. And beneath the cheerful florals is a very clear hierarchy. If you're wearing Lilly, you're probably somebody on that island. Or at least trying to be.

Now, let’s talk about the locket that Simone and Devon wear in Sirens. The camera zooms in on it, and since then, viewers have been dying to know if it means something. Well, Metzler puts it plainly: there are no drugs or tech in those lockets. She said:

"So, the locket — no, there’s no drugs, but the lockets are a real thing in Nantucket Island. It’s something you can only buy in Nantucket, they’re called basket necklaces, and they usually have ivory from Wales in them. But they’re very expensive, they’re handmade, and everyone in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard is wearing them. It’s a status symbol. You’re not in the club if you don’t have one.

"Carolyn Duncan made that happen, made all of them happen. It’s a great symbol of having arrived. You have the key, you have the necklace, but it’s a little culty. It’s a little like wearing a cross, like a religion. You know something that everyone else doesn’t," she added.

If you have one, you’re in. If you don’t, you’re not.

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