What Does Keke Palmer Wear to Host a Game Show? Fab Skirt Suits and Vintage Gems
“We were thinking Austin Powers,” says Palmer, who hosts the ‘Password’ game show, of her looks this season. “More color, more patterns—more everything.”
Reported by Vogue.
Keke Palmer is not slowing down for anyone. Between her podcast Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, a slate of upcoming films — including the highly anticipated One of Them Days 2 alongside SZA — and a recurring hosting gig on NBC, she is operating at a frequency most people can't touch. Season three of her hit game show Password is back this week, and if you haven't been watching, the wardrobe alone is reason enough to start.
Camp, Color, and a Lot of Wigs
According to Vogue, Palmer has built a full character around her Password hosting persona — and the fashion is the foundation. Think maximalist, retro, unapologetically extra. "It's very campy, and has a classic 1950s-1960s style — a very old school, Vaudeville vibe," Palmer says. The looks this season pull from Sergio Hudson, vintage Dolce & Gabbana, and archival Chanel, with Palmer gravitating toward pieces that feel like a mood rather than just an outfit. The directive was simple and delirious: more color, more patterns, more everything. Austin Powers was, apparently, a genuine reference point.
The accessories followed the same logic. Palmer sourced bold, colorful eyeglass frames from everywhere — including her own Zenni collaboration — committing to making specs a signature of the character while giving her eyes a real-world break from contacts. The wigs, meanwhile, did heavy lifting on the personality front. Shooting three looks a day, her team swapped hair between each outfit: short cuts, bowl cuts, one after another. The result is a different version of Palmer in nearly every episode, which is either exhausting or thrilling depending on how much you love fashion. (We love fashion.)
What makes this more than a fun TV moment is what it says about Palmer's relationship to getting dressed. She's always treated style like a sandbox — "I've always been a bit of a Barbie doll," she says — shifting between CEO-core and playful chaos depending on the day. The game show format just handed her a bigger playground and a budget to match. Her Password wardrobe isn't a departure from who she is; it's who she is with the volume turned all the way up.
Season three of Password airs Tuesdays on NBC — and if themed episodes and a rotating archive of vintage suiting sound like your idea of appointment television, Keke Palmer is already waiting for you.
When fashion becomes a character in its own right, the show is always worth watching.
Read the original at Vogue.
