Coachella Style

 I was in California to write about watches, specifically the Tag Heuer Connected smart watch (you can read my story here). Being able to spend a weekend talking timepieces, checking out some of my favourite musical acts and experiencing the peculiar ambiance and architecture of the California desert was incredible. It was like all my interests converging in one place.

Fashion is also high on my list of things that get me high. And Coachella is a non-stop street style parade. While I don’t expect to make anybody’s best-dressed at the fest list, I did want to be appropriately attired. As you can see from the photos above, the dress code is bohemian but because of the heat there’s also a lot of bathing suits, shorts and floppy hats. Fringe is big (a nod to Southwestern style) as are bandana and booties (practical with all that desert dust). I wish I had a better picture of the lady above, but I loved this long and flowing black gown accessorized with a red parasol and kerchief tied to a Chanel bag. It sums up the rich hippie vibe.

Here’s what I wore for the weekend. Day one, a denim on denim ensemble with my Free People Rancho mules (which were incredibly comfortable for the eight hours of walking around the grounds and dancing to the music). I also brought my black and white serape because it gets cold in the desert at night. Which brings me to my favourite look at the concert: the lady in the lame jacket pictures above. Even though I feel my wardrobe is perfect right now (I was able to easily pull together a strong look without shopping for anything new), I still found myself looking for lame at the thrift shops yesterday.

On day two, I wore a midi-length black knit dress in the morning. I sweated through that and switched to a polo shirt Tag Heuer gifted us with and my aforementioned cropped flared jeans for my afternoon explorations of Palm Springs. Then in the evening, a vintage ivory sundress an my fringed Chevignon jacket.

The serape and the fringed jacket were big hits. As was my Dior bandana (pictured here with a vintage Whiting and Davis bag that I did not bring). As for accessories, nothing beats an armload of VIP wristbands.