Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival takes place once every Spring in Indio, California for two back to back weekends. This year it starts on April 15th and promises as always to present an amazing one of a kind mash-up of music with something for everyone. For example, the lineup on Day 2 this year will include Rock and Rap music. Guns N Roses will headline with popular rap artists Ice Cube and A$AP Rocky, as openers. For two weeks straight on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the festival promises awesome combinations of stunning performances in different musical genres.
With that said, just like its musical lineup, dressing up for Coachella is also about mixing and matching. Coachella Music Festival goers choose combinations of quintessential fabric trends and styles to create a unique look. In addition, artsy types break all style rules by power accessorizing. When it comes to accessories, bigger is better for both men and women.
Coachella is one of the most notorious music festivals for fashionistas. It has spawned fashion trends and style worshippers with its consistent celebrity turn-out and innovative garment collection collaborations with major retailers and brands, such as Coach, Moschino and H&M. The “H&M loves Coachella” official collection is currently available in stores. Several celebrities have worn head to toe looks by Coach and other high-end designers at the festival and its accompanying sunny California pool parties and fêtes.
Coachella style is the premier bohemian style of the twenty-first century. As you can see from the photo montage above, Coachella fashion packs a lot of flower power, accompanied by big hats and bangles. Short shirts, skirts, and shorts also known as crop tops and cut-offs can be mixed with fur or wool to keep away the chill. Choose a favorite floral motif or tribal print with nature-inspired colors such as organic white, red, and green, or even mustard and rust — the color of autumn leaves — in a lightweight fabric such as cotton or silk. Then pair them with happy colors of fur and cycadelic stripes. Follow these trends and voila, you’ve created your own personal Coachella style! Don’t forget the long necklaces and earrings which don’t have to be expensive, only pretty, beaded and shiny.
If you are really aiming to achieve the pinnacle of Coachella style, accessorize your hair with the number one Coachella requirement: a headband with a beautiful halo of bright flowers. Daisies work well for that flower child sprite wanderer look; picture nymphs and fairies dancing in the forest. This blog has tons of recommendations from the selection at Mood Fabrics that embody recent Coachella trends, from fabrics and embellishments to colored fur.
For inspiration on designing your next sewing project, why not foray into Coachella Festival Fashion territory. Take a look at the creative headpiece worn by Charlotte Kemp Muhl in her performance at Coachella on Day 1 last year, then try your hand at making one that suits you. When Beyoncé and Solange stole the show at Solange’s 2014 Coachella performance with synchronized steps on stage, they wore cute matching top and bottom combinations.
Try to imbue your project with a matching look by picking an interesting all-over print for shirts and skirts or for blouses and shorts combinations. Maybe, you’d like to create a skin-baring romper in an all over striped fabric. I invite you to take a look at the pictures I’ve included here of many famous celebrities in show-stopping looks at Coachella, from Rihanna in a lavender fur coat and matching purple combat boots with pink flowers to Kanye West in Celine. Also, keep in mind the silhouettes from your favorite designer labels when browsing for inspiration. Boho-chic inspired labels that get major style points from celebrities at Coachella include the likes of Chloe and Missoni.
From these trendsetters, you’ll see there are no rules at all when it comes to what you can and can’t wear at Coachella. You can do all sixties inspired prints like fashion print-mixing goddess, Solange, and pair them with white sneakers to turn up with a hip hop flair. Or, you can bring back the eighties style jean skirt in a mini-length with fringe like Alessandra Ambrosio and Jourdan Dunn. Fringe is another well worn trend. Jourdan pairs her mini-skirt with fringe on the pockets. Ambrosio wears free-falling fringe from an itsy-bitsy bikini top over her denim mini.
One of the easiest and most playful trends to wear at Coachella is denim: ripped up, cut-up, and distressed. While shorter is definitely better, I believe the trend is best summed up by the following product description from the “H&M loves Coachella” collection — “Denim Shorts Trashed”. Another Coachella trend you can choose is a rhythmic and colorful print. The prints in the H&M collection are great to emulate, as they are reminiscent of Valentino designs, tribal but modern with Native American references.
Guys who want to dress in Coachella style can go relaxed with a fun T-shirt and distressed denim jeans like Usher. If you are adventurous, try a cut-off T-shirt to show off your biceps and add a baseball cap to complete the look. If you are comfortable setting your own fashion rules like Jared Leto and Jaden Smith, then you can wear a nature inspired button down shirt with printed pants accented by cool boots, or dare to try the gender-bending look of a dress. Male celebrities have consistently seized the opportunity to try gender-bending fashion trends at Coachella. For instance, Jaden Smith wore a floral dress one year. Kanye West also wore a designer women’s blouse by Celine during his 2011 performance.
Keep reading and you’ll find my best fashion fabric and trim recommendations from every trend described above so that you can recreate Coachella Festival Fashion in your very own home sewing studio.
Coachella Style Fabrics and Trims at Mood
Colored Fur
Mood has a bevy of colored fur selections for you to select in sewing a beautiful and funky topper, like that seen on Coachella fashion stars Rihanna and Zoe Kravitz. Some of Mood’s fur selections can only be found at stores. However, you’ll also find several stunning styles on www.moodfabrics.com. My picks from the website are shown below to get you started. Have some fun and sew a garment using fur in honor of the Coachella fashion goddesses. If you’re not into wearing fur garments in the summer, pick up one of Mood’s fur ball key chains as an accessory. Whatever your preference, Mood Fabrics has unique fur styles to fit every budget.
Rainbow Colored Fur Available Only In Stores
Stripes
Stripes are another trend that we regularly see the celebs wearing at Coachella. Reminiscent of the 1990’s grunge look, these styles are sewn into dainty spaghetti strap dresses and short-overalls. Go with nature inspired colors or cycadelic mash-ups to inject major Coachella style into your next design. Keep the fabrics light and airy with cotton, linen, chiffons and voiles that are lightweight or tissue weight to emulate the Coachella style, as the festival always takes place in hot and sunny 80 degrees Indio, California weather. Then try your hand at crafting a jacket, like that worn by Kate Bosworth last year, to keep you warm when the cooler nights set in. A Coachella party doesn’t stop until the early morning!!
Crochet Lace / Knits
Crochet lace and knits are the perfect materials to keep you cool and warm in the summer. Everyone at Coachella knows open weave and floral knits are the go-to fabric for super comfortable and stylish designs. From bikini tops with added fringe to short shorts and long pants, crochet lace and knits will give whatever sixties’ flower-child inspired style you design a modern but vintage edge. Pick up a few of my favorites below and get Coachella ready.
Fringe / Beaded and Rhinestone Trims
Here at Mood Fabrics we have many different fringe choices to help you find your personal Coachella style. Sizes range from less than two inches in width to over four inches wide. Fringes can be used as trim on blouses and skirts, as well as embellishments on jean pockets and jackets. Buy as much or as little as you desire to creatively top off your festival wares.
We also have beaded fringes to give a bit of color and sparkle to your design. Check out our website’s trim section for fringes galor, as well as some of my picks for Coachella style shown below. Then be sure to pick out the perfect fringe to match your favorite fabric choices and get sewing on your handmade Coachella look in any color, material, or style you can conjure. And while you are browsing, also look into crafting with my suggestions on beaded and rhinestone trims to top it all off.
In Silver and Gold Beaded Rhinestones:
Floral Prints
Floral prints are big. Yes, they can literally be super-sized to your own personal preference. Florals are a mainstay trend at Coachella, embraced fully by all of the top celebrities. At past festivals, many outfits featured feminine colors and motifs mixed with sheer fabrics or suedes and leather.
The mixed media approach to dressing in floral brings a cool rocker chic vibe to whatever print you desire. Add studded leathers or fringe trims to get an authentic Coachella look. The shorter the better, when it comes to designing a head to toe floral dress or outfit. Celebrities like Beyoncé and Solange have donned short rompers and dresses with “up to there” slits in the front. Katy Perry wore a beautiful black sheer fabric over a floral print bandeau and mini-skirt combo.
For maximum Coachella style, feel free to accessorize to the hilt like Bella Thorne pictured above in an all-over floral print turqouise and pink dress. Headbands, bangles, long necklaces, earrings, and wide brimmed hats all complement the floral print and make your design Coachella ready and distinctively you! Check out some of the beautiful floral fabrics below to bring out that rock and roll music festival style in your wardrobe.
Get Going!
Now that you know Mood has all of the latest and greatest trends in fabrics and styles worn by the fashion elite at Coachella, pick up a plethora of fabric and get started! Mood’s Sewciety would love to see where your creativity leads you. Although we can’t all go to Coachella every year, anyone can start sewing precious pieces of Coachella into their cherished wardrobes right now. Happy Sewing!!
