My wife's family has been vacationing in Palm Springs for basically her entire life, and it's always been an opportunity for them to take life easy: lie by the pool, drink margaritas, and go shopping. I'm not a pool person, and tequila does not speak to me, but I'm at least able to tag along when my wife wants to tour the various retail opportunities in the Coachella Valley, and even buy something now and then.
One of the standard shopping destinations is the weekend Street Fair at the College of the Desert, a market which features a wide range of shopping options: clothing, fashion, hats, tech, art, food, groceries, sunglasses and so on. Generally we just wander around and browse, but every now and then we do buy something, and yesterday, the purchase of the moment was socks - Lost In Space socks.
These are a surprisingly retro item, when you think about it. The original Lost In Space series that these socks are referencing ran from 1965 to 1968 - I can't speak to their history in syndication, but regardless, the audience from that era is getting smaller and smaller. Admittedly, the series has been rebooted twice, one in the 1998 film version, and then as a television series again in 2018 (also for three seasons), but these socks are definitely an homage to the 1965 show: it's the original Robot and his patented catchphrases.
However, let's not forget that we're in Palm Springs, the place where kitsch comes to die - or at least, to retire and play golf. I may be overthinking the whole thing: maybe I just need to wear them ironically, if that's a thing you can do with socks.
- Sid
