The first season of single-camera sitcom Gilligan’s Island aired back in 1964 and despite a few of the normal signs of ageing, the show still holds a place in the pantheon of pop culture thanks to its accessible screwball charm, balmy tropical location and the appealing combination of characters moulded from the traditional commedia dell’arte archetypes. The motley ensemble of castaways (all of which, you’ll notice, were white. This is the mid-Sixties we’re talking about) turned the island into a stage for madcap Darwinian slapstick, as well as a hotbed of sexual tension. In addition to a set personality type, each character had their own unique sense of style; and since ’tis the season for island living/beach hangs, we’ve made the Gilligan’s Island Guide To Beach Style to help you find out which character is your sartorial spirit animal. Because priorities.
GILLIGAN & THE SKIPPER
The eponymous Gilligan is a textbook goofball. Accident prone, well meaning and guileless, he’s the type of character the word “bumbling” was invented for. The Skipper is the Laurel to Gilligan’s Hardy, a jovial plumpy with an irritable streak who enjoys ordering Gilligan around and conking him on the head with his captain’s hat. You’ve got to love a man in uniform. Since both Gilligan and the Skipper are void of superficial vanity, it makes sense that their wardrobes were limited to one understated signature look: red shirt, pale trousers and white bucket hat for Gilligan, and royal blue polo and khakis for the Skip. With the sun smart (yet stylishly dubious) resurgence of bucket hats into the current sartorial fray, and the nautical look being as popular as ever, the pastel slacks and plimsoll look of both these gents is totally on trend right now.
Get the Gilligan/Skipper beach look:
GINGER
Ginger is the “movie star” referenced in the show’s rollicking opening theme song and is a glamorous beauty who’s hair always looks amazing (one of the show’s major credibility issues). She approached island living with an exemplary commitment to resort chic. Her penchant for prints (leopard was a favourite), cinch-waist Sixties cuts, figure-hugging one piece looks, and colourful high-waist bikinis gave Ginger a tasteful beach siren style that remains worthy of duplication.
Get Ginger’s beach look:
MARY ANN
Much has been made over the polarising boner magnetism of the Island’s leading female characters. Some prefer Ginger’s more ‘up market’ bombshell appeal, however the wide-eyed wholesome vibe of gingham-clad ingenue Mary Ann is timelessly alluring (and obviously lends itself far more favourably to popular porn tropes). Despite her girl-next-door aesthetic, Mary Ann wasn’t afraid of attending island happenings in her hot pants or working her female sexuality (although her particular brand of sexy was generally downgraded through tween-y touches like those ubiquitous bloody pigtails). Collared gingham pieces, overalls, turtlenecks, sporty swimsuits and hot pants rendered in unobtrusive primary colours were Mary Ann’s sartorial bread and butter.
Get Mary Ann’s beach look:
THE PROFESSOR
I wouldn’t mind learning a thing or two from The Professor if you catch my drift (sex). With a classically handsome mien combining a young Marlon Brando with The Wire‘s Jimmy McNulty, The Professor had a savant-like aptitude for making practical items out of bamboo and coconuts, and regularly rebuffed the sexual advances of Ginger (leading many to later hypothesise that The Professor was gay). Like Gilligan, The Prof was one of the Island inhabitants who never changed from his forever-fresh uniform of preppy khakis, a faded blue cotton shirt that accentuated his marvellous tan and a pair of blue plimsolls.
Get The Professor’s beach look:
THURSTON HOWELL III (“THE MILLIONAIRE”)
I love that Thurston Howell III took several fabulous changes of clothes with him on what was, ostensibly, supposed to be a one-day Hawaiian outing by boat. This is why he was probably the chicest person on the show. Partial to mixing bold colours and expensive-looking prints and fabrics, his clothing comprised a selection of sports coats, cravats, straw trilbies, cardigans and luxe dinner jackets. This quote perhaps best encapsulates Thurston’s sartorial leanings: “No one can pull the wool over my eyes. Cashmere maybe, but wool, never.” Quite so.
Get The Millionaire’s ballin’ beach look:
Get the Thurston Howell III look:
LOVEY HOWELL
Rich socialite Mrs Lovey Howell is the best character on the show. Anyone with such an extraordinary dedication to wearing hats deserves universal respect and admiration.
