Olive Kelly: Cinema with Style Fifth Edition: Gidget

The first time I was introduced to the "Gidget" character, it was in the Sally Field TV Series, Gidget (first aired 1965), on Nick at Nite. I found the character amusing & endearing & the series became an instant favorite.

Sally Field as Gidget in the 1960s TV Series

The Gidget character originated in a 1957 novel entitled Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas, a book written by Frederick Kohner. Kohner created the character of Gidget in honor of his daughter, Kathy, a teenage surfer girl in 1950s Malibu. There have been countless television & movie interpretations of the Gidget character.

The Inspiration for Gidget: Kathy Kohner

Less than a year later, I saw the Gidget (1959) movie starring Sandra Dee and realized two things:

Gidget Loves Moondoggie
I love Gidget's 1950s California surfer girl style

The Plot:

California Good Girl Meets California Surf Bum & Becomes California Surfer Girl Only to Learn that Her California Surf Bum is actually a California Good Boy

Gidget (a nickname) starts as an awkward teen who is not taking seriously the fact that she has no steady boyfriend (a punishable crime in 1950s Californian suburbia). Instead, she cares only about her grades and wants to stay a kid so she can keep playing outside with the boys. She is adopted into a group of surfer bums who teach her to surf over the summer. One of the surf bums, Moondoggie (also a nickname), catches her eye and helps her to decide that that growing up may be tolerable if the process is accompanied by a hot male surfing companion. The summer ends, the surf bums disperse & Gidget & Moondoggie graduate from their summer of surf school by revealing their true identities to one another and in turn admitting their true feelings.

The Result?

TRUE LOVE.

My Plot:

Florida Good Girl watches movie about California Good Girl who wears 1950s California Tomboy Style. California Tomboy Style slowly transitions into California Surfer Girl Style which Slowly Blends with California Glamour Girl Style.

The Result?

TRUE LOVE.

1950s Cali Surf Style as Interpreted for 2012:

Inspiration: