Visions of palm trees, desert horizons, and Ferris wheels come to mind when you think about So-Cal music festivals. Fashion and music lovers travel to Indio, California, three weekends in succession, dressed in festival gear and pre-selected Instagram filters. The Coachella weekend is reserved for the first two weekends, but the third weekend is when we bring out our western fashion trends to make it a cowboy Coachella.
Stagecoach is the country music equivalent of Coachella, and it’s a famous scene. The festival grounds are decorated with American flag motifs and fringe. There are also plaid, bandanas, and cowboy boots everywhere. Stagecoach is a place I have been to before. I’ve done the rhinestone cowboy thing and played along. But this year was something else. I was ecstatic to return home and recreate my outfits, regardless of whether country music was playing in the background.
The distressed cowboy boots and the American flag swim trunks were still visible, but Stagecoach’s approach this year was more sophisticated and wearable. You’ll see glammed-up takes on classic country styles, including head-to-toe-toned dresses, feminine silhouettes, and updated animal prints. Here are four trends I tried out at Stagecoach and am bringing home for summer.
Rhinestone Cowgirl
It’s possible to take the city girl to the country festival, but not the city. The more-is-more version of western classics is about rhinestone fringe and studded belts. This is the perfect blend of country and glam, as Colee, a Brooklyn-based country singer, demonstrated. He wore a sheer fringe mini skirt on Nikki Lane’s Horseshoe stage.
This rhinestone fringed tailored crop top by Shein was paired with light-wash jeans, a cow-print belt, and light-wash jeans. I chose a fan-friendly approach. The look was relaxed and cowboy-friendly, with a feminine, glam twist.
Stagecoach: Cowboy boots. Groundbreaking, right? Although almost everyone walks around festival streets in their boots, they were more significant this year. Carrie Underwood’s legs were the talk of the town, showing off a pair of ankle-high cowboy boots. Even Diplo channeled the cowboy while riding a bull at Shein Saloon.