Where Has All the Effort Gone? Coachella ‘22 Fashion Review
This past weekend we experienced a phenomenon that will only happen every 33 years. No, I'm not talking about Ramadan, Passover, and Easter all falling on the same weekend. I'm talking about the fact that I paid attention to Coachella.
As someone interested in fashion since she was playing Barbie dress-up on her dad’s computer, you'd think Coachella would've been an event I would've paid attention to earlier than 2022, but I could never bring myself to care. Maybe it was the fact that the most significant things that ever seemed to come out of Coachella were jean shorts (boring) and feather headdresses (cultural appropriation.) But what else should be expected from an event founded by someone openly against weed and gay people? (arguably two of the best things to come out of planet earth.)
The reason I paid attention to Coachella this year was threefold. One, I currently am working a job that I hate. The 10 minutes of glancing at my phone to see what people were wearing to an event I've always written off was a welcome distraction from yet another billionaire calling me “you there,” only to moments later thrust a platinum card into my palm. (More details to come in my tell-all after my NDA’s have expired.) Secondly, 2022 has seen the return of large events for better or for worse. These festivals are back in action after a time when we thought they might be gone for good. Thirdly, Harry Styles performed at Coachella, and his name on the marquée was enough to make me take stock of an event I hadn't even thought about since Beyonce performed in 2018.
When the pandemic started over two years ago, there were a lot of predictions of what fashion might look like when it ended (or at least when things started getting back to “normal.”) People looked back to post influenza world of glitz and glamour. A renaissance of fashion was predicted with people dressing to the nines simply because they could after years of wearing only sweatpants.
So, where was that at Coachella?
It's not that I was expecting the desert to be filled with ball gowns, but was I wrong for expecting, I don't know, effort?
So without further ado, let’s get into it
The Good, the Bad, and the Lazy
Quick disclaimer: When I originally started writing this, I was going to exclude performers but upon retrospect I realised if I did that I would have, literally no good outfits to talk about. So I decided to include them.
The Good
Now obviously, I might be a little biased but to me absolutely nothing beat Harry Styles’ weekend two look. Styled by Harry Lambert, and in head to toe custom Gucci. Styles’ looked like an absolute Strawberry Shortcake Cowboy Barbie dreamboat and I absolutely ate it up.
Also as someone raised on Queen, literally nothing makes me happier than the fact that Styles and Lambert clearly drew inspiration from Freddie Mercury’s festival style.
Up next is Thee Hot Girl Megan thee Stallion. I loved how fun and exciting these outfits were, and that she kept a theme over the two weekends. I hated that they were custom Dolce and Gabbana (if you wanna hear about why they suck, here you go) so instead, I’m going to pretend that they simply appeared on Megan moments before she went onstage.
I’ve never heard of British musician Mika before, but I did absolutely love the suits that he wore. The first floral suit is by Mira Mikati and is hand-knitted and hand-painted with Mika’s lyrics and flowers. I can’t find the designer for the second but overall it’s just a great suit, he also paired it with a sheer undershirt with embroidered patches.
Rounding out the good performer looks we have Rina Sawayama, Ari Lennox, Conan Grey, Doja Cat, and Phoebe Bridgers.
The thing these outfits did right for me is that you can tell there was not only thought and effort in these looks but also execution. They also all play on various trends we’ve seen as of late; double denim, cutouts, and bright colors.
Somewhat surprisingly some of the best festival outfits I saw were from non-celebrity attendees.
Honorary mention to this green butterfly top worn by both Shenseea and Vanessa Morgan. I want one.
The Bad
Now this next kaleidoscope of bad outfits does deserve some praise, because they are indeed bad outfits but they aren’t lazy. Which is so much worse. You can tell that there was effort put into these outfits, there was drive and there was passion. Although they still land themselves in the bad outfit category to me, I do applaud their efforts.
A lot of these outfits I wanted to like. I did, but I just… didn’t. The one I was most on the fence about was Doja Cat’s performance outfit by designer Eyanatia (whose stuff I really like.) Doja said she wanted her performance to look like it was “from another planet,” but instead it just feels like she went through a paper shredder.
The rest of the outfits in this round-up, I just plain thought were bad. I wish I had more to say about them than that but I just don’t. At least they weren’t boring! Which leads us to the next…
The Lazy
Now, most of the looks I saw fell into this category, the whole reason I wanted to talk about Coachella is because of this category.
I almost went to Coachella to work at a merch stand (long story,) so I know the money that goes into getting there. Flights, accommodation, car rentals, tickets this is not a cheap activity like running to the gas station or walking your dog. So why did almost everyone dress like it was!
Imagine telling me that Emma Chamberlain’s Coachella day one look would be some of the most effort celebrities were going to put in- I would’ve laughed. Laughed!
I can’t pinpoint the exact moment that it felt like the Kardashian-Jenners took over the world. The famous family has long been praised as modern-day trendsetters, yet when I look at their style at events like these I can’t help but wonder why. Hailey, Kylie, and Kendall are all wearing outfits that I have worn to the laundromat, and Kim has been wearing that exact same outfit for the last * checks watch * 5 years. The only interesting part about her outfit is the Home in Heven glass bag, and it’s still maybe the first ugly one I’ve seen.
Vanessa Hudgens, the proclaimed Queen of Coachella. She used to really go all out. What she wore to Coachella often dictated what people wore all summer long, yet this is just so yawn. I don’t mind the pink outfit on the left, I’m only putting it in the lazy category because of the standard she herself set. Remember when she used to wear giant wings to this? The right outfit is ruined for me by the black swimsuit underneath. If she had done a beige, or even a white I think I would’ve liked it more but there’s no black anywhere else in her outfit leaving the swimsuit feeling out of place.
The below outfits were just so, lackluster. Even Paris Hilton couldn’t bring herself to throw on a sandal or a heel! The thing all these outfits did wrong was that not only were they boring but they didn’t even try to follow a trend or make themselves interesting in any way! At least the bad outfits were interesting to look at.
In conclusion, the opulence I once envisioned would come about when we were finally allowed outside again is gone. I guess in a way I understand it. Once you’ve been prioritizing comfort for the last two years it can be hard to want to go back to a world of tight-fitting, itchy clothing. Some things I would’ve loved to see that would be comfortable but still fun would’ve been some linen ensembles, crochet pieces, and definitely more bright colors.
Maybe it’s on me for expecting more of Coachella. Maybe at the end of the day, I need to just take it for what it is a bunch of super-rich people hanging out in the desert.
These days all I can hope is that nobody wears jeans to the met gala.
