PHOTOGRAPH BY GETTY IMAGES/SLIM AARONS

Poolside. Gossip. Two words that can incite a visceral reaction on their own. Poolside: An act of surrendering oneself to the warm rays while losing all sense of reality beyond the bristling of the palms and the splash of cool water against the side of the pool. What time is it? What day is it? Who cares? My glass is empty and the bar cart is calling.

Gossip: Something a bit nefarious we may or may not want to engage in. Well, maybe if it paints the subject in a positive light? Then it can pass for conversation.

When pushed together, the notion of “poolside gossip” feels juicy and luxuriant, as sunny and bubbly as a Champagne spritzer. And that’s even before the Slim Aarons reference we all know. Anything that attaches itself to “poolside gossip” or Poolside Gossip is bound to grab our attention.

Fifty years after Aarons released the photo that rivals all Palm Springs photos, Santa Barbara Designs has launched the Santa Barbara Poolside Gossip Umbrella in Lemonade Yellow, among other colors. It was only a matter of time. Love her? Of course we do. (Just like we love the lesser-seen snap from the same shoot day shown here.)

santabarbaradesignsumbrella

The Santa Barbara Poolside Gossip Umbrella in Lemonade Yellow.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY SANTA BARBARA DESIGNS

The double-decker canopy with braid trim is part of the 2021 Slim Aarons American Icon Collection. The company has reimagined the jaunty patio umbrellas he captured among the, in his words, “beautiful people in beautiful places, doing beautiful things.” Joining the new design inspired by the original at the Kaufmann Desert House (architect Richard Neutra, 1946, and on the market as of press time) are fringed beauties reinterpreted from his images shot in Acapulco, Mexico and Cote d’Azur, France.

Now, could someone please tell me how to tease 
my hair for that cotton-candy volume and where 
to get a reissue of that white crochet crop top and flares set? I’ll grab the Aqua Net and start doing poolside sit-ups tomorrow.