It can be hard to be fashionable when you need to dress in layers, which might be one reason why Outside Lands, like the city that hosts it every year, isn’t known for its style. Great food and music? Yes. Fit looks? Maybe.
But I believe in our city. I knew there would be sartorialists to find if I looked closely enough at the crowd of festivalgoers in Golden Gate Park this weekend. After all, a lot has changed since San Francisco was voted among the worst-dressed cities in the country by GQ back in 2011, and given the predicted warm weather, I had high hopes. And even if the looks weren’t high fashion, I knew I’d find no better place to observe the zeitgeist of mainstream clothing trends than the city’s marquee music festival.
So what did I see? The main trends from Outside Lands’ best-dressed include bold patters, denim, boots, color-coordination, and, of course, layers. The Y2K era is clearly still exerting its influence. And DIY was another major theme — many of the most fashionable looks were handmade.
I spotted sisters Leila and Abby Mohaddes as they strutted across the grassy concourse of polo fields toward Matt Champion’s set. Layers on layers across shades of green and red and beige in knits and paisley patterns were only the surface of their outfits. Conventional fashion wisdom tells us this shouldn’t work, but they’re killing it.
“Short skirts, tall boots — as you can see I’m following the trends — and little glasses with colored little slutty lenses,” said Abby, a 25-year-old traveling from New York City to visit her older sister.
“You gotta have your big boots,” her sister Leila added. “We love a shrug, and something that is just a timeless classic is a pashmina.”
Leila is right: pashminas are everywhere. And not just at Outside Lands but all festivals, on men and women alike.
“My goal for the day is to get as many head bandanas as possible,” George Zamora said.
He and his crew mood-boarded their outfits prior to the festival. The inspo was simple: denim shorts, head scarves, green tops. The rest was improvised.
“You want to be fashion forward, but you want it to be functional and stay warm enough for the day,” said Jordan Defiesta, dressed in raw denim Levis and a Kangol beret.
‘Every year, Outside Lands gets better, and with that, so does the fashion.’ – Dan Hicban
Defiesta and his friends walked toward the SoMa tent on Saturday afternoon. Given their hunter green color coordination, I didn’t even have to ask. Clearly, they were here for Tyler the Creator, a musician whose influence as a fashionista rivals his popularity as a musician. (Hunter green is the color of his latest album, “Chromakopia.”)
“Tyler inspired all of our outfits,” said Dan Hicban, who has been attending the festival since 2019. “Every year, Outside Lands gets better, and with that, so does the fashion. The first year I went, I wore a decked-out costume — I thought that's what the festival energy was. I had a metallic top puffer and a little bralette, and I came here and everyone was in their tech jackets, holding a brewski with some jeans on. Now I know it’s more about coordinated outfits.”
In stark contrast to the colorful outfits that sprinkled the polo fields, Rix Cannell was dressed in an understated military-inspired ensemble. Cannell had handmade the entire outfit at his Sausalito studio, home to his clothing company Hendrix Park.
When asked about the surge in popularity of selvedge denim — a recently revived trend embraced by brands from San Francisco’s own Levi’s to A.P.C. — Cannell scoffed. He said he values craftsmanship over fleeting fads, dismissing the craze as a veritable psyop by Big Denim.
“Hipsters are typically just drawn to that little flair they can get when they roll up the edge of their pants. And they seem to get street cred from it, for some reason,” he said. “The truth is, having selvedge doesn't necessarily mean the fabric is of better quality — that's a common misconception. I think the quality is more reflected in where you're getting the fabric and who is making it.”
Richmond resident Mahayla Rheanna showed up in dark green shorts, a green racing jacket, and a fluffy mint-green bucket hat. She even had a matcha to match her outfit.
The trends she noticed as she went around the park? A lot of power clashing: Floral on tie-dye, different shades of the same colors on outfits. But she’s not hating, in fact, she embraces the chaos.
“No one cares — I like that. Who cares? There are no fashion police these days,” she said.
