scb’s guide to festie chic.

Though festival season is just beginning, Ultra is literally upon us so let’s just get this party started. I tend to favor comfy chic at shows rather than extreme rave babe attire, because let’s be real – you can only sacrifice pain for beauty for SO LONG, and these kinda days are actually too long for my pain threshold. Like, I’m only going to look as good as my dancing will allow. Below are some of my fits from my last year of festivaling…

personal uniform: groove chic.

Inspiration from my inner disco bitch to yours. I learned quickly the hard way that dressing super PLUR is not the way to festival. Props if you are one of those girls, it’s just not me – I’ll be grooving from a safe distance looking good in VIP. Or backstage, like at Veld. And don’t get mad, I know I use PLUR in a really stereotypical way. I’m all about promoting peace, love, unity, and respect, but a dancing pit of sweaty limbs has me feeling some other type of way. I digress: I often wear variations of the same, just with different sunnies/jewelry, purses, and hair and makeup. You can see in the above pictures that high waisted pants/shorts were a major theme with me (those cutoffs are still my all-time fave), as were crop tops and muscle tanks/graphic tees. This feels like a pretty constant popular trend in the scene, so I plan to see and wear more of the same through spring and summer… Basically, wear whatever YOU want because you’re gonna be the only one who cares. I’ve been shopping at Brandy Melville, The Flaunt Shop, Hopes, and some local stores here so far this year. Can we talk about how excited I am for this summer in general? And, hopefullyyy I will get to meet a ton of internet friends at events, and we can compare styles in person… There’s nothing I’d like more than the chance to dance with all of my stone cold beauties – which brings me to my next point.

dancing shoes.

I think it’s fully possible I wore the same pair of Steve Madden Troopa boots the entire “season” last year, because I don’t care about trashing them and who’s looking at your feet anyway? That being said, I think I wore the same pair to nearly every festival, so this year I tried to plan for the same mentality and score some booties and the like before that happened again. PRO TIP: With booties, pay attention to how they fit on you at the ankle. I often think those that are cut lower down on your foot are more flattering to cuff jeans with, or wear with shorts… A good way to save your feet in the heat during summer shows. My personal fave pair are by Rachel Comey. Make sure they look good how you’d wear them and you can actually move around in them. You’re not going to be happy six hours from that Instagram picture you dressed for, wearing some rad pair of really uncomfortable shoes. Just don’t be that girl who everyone has to assure they *do not* hate, when they do, because you’re being hip and high maintenance. You can’t groove with my crew if you do. Here’s some of what I’ve picked up so far – I post all the new new to Instagram, so follow me there if you’re into that.

On a related note, I met with the guys behind Fortress of Inca while they were here in Seattle last weekend, and their shoes are amazing – just wait for their fall line to drop… I’ll share more later.

I look to a lot of different places for inspiration, but if you’re looking to see a range of spring and summer styles, try sites like Rue La La, Hautelook, Revolve, Steve Madden, Nordstrom, Zappos, or wherever your personal style takes you – these are just where I often find the pieces I like. PRO TIP: There is nothing worse than finding the perfect shoe and learning it’s sold out in your size. If you do find a style you like but they’re out of your size, try this: grab whatever specific descriptors they used in the caption for the shoe to search out alternatives from Google. Read: “accented buckle straps,” etc. Who knows, you may get lucky and find a pair you like better, or cheaper.

all night beauty.

Speaking of getting lucky, it’s no secret that festivals of this nature got you up all night. I cannot stress enough the importance of using primer – face, eye, lip – if you’re going to wear regular makeup. While you can prime, mattify and generally try to preserve your face as much as possible, it’s really a waste of time. That being said, I definitely get ready for the day portion of festivals – I just do my makeup in a way that I know will gracefully and slowly wear off. I prefer going light on the eyes and trying to keep a dewy and natural sort of look for these events because I know I’ll sweat *glisten* and it will all look okay as the night wears on. How do I know? Mostly because once I had the bright idea of doing monster makeup for Freaknight on Halloween… While it looked great at this point in the night, by the end I looked like a real monster. The point stands with any kind of situation: make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into with dark or intense eye makeup, use primer and longwear products, OR stick with a light, natural look. My vote is to just focus on the basics – brows, lashes, and lips – and leave the rest minimal… You’re going to be dancing too hard to care anyway.

 extra credit: cleansing.

Let’s take a minute to talk about pre-festival prep. I try to keep my cravings in check for the most part, especially now, but there’s nothing wrong with a little help. Unlike a lot of cleanses that exist, this one is actually *simple* and really easy to incorporate into life. It’s a tea detox  (I’ve mentioned it before) and it’s perf for girls on the go. It’s literally just drinking tea, a prime “cleanse” for a busy girl on the go like me! We can all detox together – god knows we’ll need it – in preparation… And restoration, of festival season. Amen. More info here.

xx SCB