Coachella 2011: Fest Fashion
In recent years, Coachella has morphed from a true music-fiend's paradise into part fashion show, part branding opportunity where street style pics are snapped as if it's Paris Fashion Week. And that's totally cool. Except most of the people in the said street style photos look like they just stepped out of an Urban Outfitters calendar. Festival dressing has become a formulaic snooze, with fedoras, cut offs, cropped desert boots and some type of feathered piece de résistance that screams "I'm a hippie despite the fact that I just paid a scalper $900 to see these shows and I didn't even flinch." Granted there isn't a hell of a lot of creativity to be found at 100 degrees, but these are our picks — both on stage and off — of the girls who did Coachella in an effortless way that felt unique and fresh. And we didn't even dock points for fedoras. Big step in our world. Big step.
Who: Camilla Belle
Where: The Mulberry bbq at the Parker Hotel
Why: Could it be that someone actually brought a pair of cuffed denim shorts to Coachella instead of cut-offs that fit like a Speedo? Apparently yes.
Who: Julia Natasha Stone of Angus and Julia
Where: On-stage during her set
Why: That dress is killer. And we dig the wavy hair and the "I'm having so much fun" smile.
Who: Model Tali Lennox
Where: Outside the Mulberry bbq at the Parker Hotel
Why: We love colored denim and her crocheted top reminds us of a similar one we had from The Limited Too back in the day.
Who: Dita Von Teese
Where: On the Polo fields
Why: Not only does Dita stay true to her striking style no matter what the occasion (she doesn't wear jeans, after all), but she does it in a way that fits her surroundings a few decades back. We can totally imagine her enjoying a cocktail by the pool of the Colony Palms Hotel in downtown Palm Springs, circa 1944. And for her, that just fits.
Who: Wynter Gordon
Where: Rocking her set
Why: The 25 year-old singer already has a platinum single ("Dirty Talk"). Now she has a funky, colorful woven tunic to cement her major stage presence as well.
Who: Kate Bosworth
Where: At the shows
Why: This, people, is how 100-degree festival fashion is done. She doesn't look like a "hipster." She doesn't look like a "hippie." She looks like Kate being comfortable. And the entire look — from the tousled hair to the aviators and the sneakers — is quite covetable.
Who: Warpaint lead singer Emily Kokal
Where: At her show
Why: Because that embroidered Asian jacket that she likely scored in a big city Chinatown would look just as dope with leggings, heels and a standard Saturday night as it did up on stage.
Who: Harley Viera-Newton
Where: The Mulberry bbq at the Parker Hotel
Why: She's DJed Dior in Paris and been called an "It Girl" more times than we can count. We'll just call her "wearing a ridiculosly awesome lace mini-dress."
Who: Diane Kruger
Where: Seeing bands
Why: That skirt is amazing. That is all.
Who: Jenny Lewis
Where: On-stage
Why: Her sculptural, black and white tube top/shorts combo is super cute. And again, that "happy to be there" smile doesn't hurt either.
Who: Tali Lennox, again
Where: On the Polo fields
Why: Why not?
Photos: Getty Images, Wireimage, Mr. Newton/Harper's Bazaar