My First Coachella Through My Digital Camera

Every year Coachella comes and goes without leaving much of an impression on me. I’ve always assumed it isn’t for me: the crowds give me anxiety, the logistics of getting to and from the venue seem like a nightmare (and they are!!), the style has always confused me (I see a lot of people wearing things that I know they would never wear outside of the festival). So I surprised myself when I came to Coachella this year and had the best time. GAP invited me to attend as a part of their Hoodie House activation and we were asked to style our looks around the iconic GAP hoodie, easy. I’ve always been intimidated by Coachella’s “festival style” because it’s such a departure from my personal style so I welcomed these parameters as I began to sort out what my version of Coachella is.

During breakfast on our last day, our waitress shared a story with us about how in the 60s she used to attend rock concerts and sit on the side of the stage rolling cigarettes for legends like Janis Joplin. This led Brendan (my plus one, boyfriend, photographer) and I to discuss what the process for festival style was then vs now. Then, I would imagine, it was less referential — to build your outfits you relied purely on your own creativity and “festival style” was open to your own interpretation. Now, it’s influenced by what you’re seeing other people wear. There’s a lot of social media noise leading up to the festival and I felt the pressure when packing and almost panic-ordered a crochet or fringe something. But I stumbled on this image of Kate Moss at Glastonbury that shifted my perspective and helped me realize that there’s a way to participate in festival style while staying true to yourself. I didn’t want to show up to Coachella wishing I had put more thought into my outfits but I’m also conscious about buying clothing that I’ll never wear again after the festival.

There’s also the added layer that going to festivals is really uncomfortable. If you pay attention to what the older festival goers are wearing, you would think they’re about to go on a 20 mile hike in Joshua Tree afterwards. They’re dressed purely for function with hiking boots, sun hoodies, and cargo shorts. We had a big list of artists we wanted to see and everyday we arrived in the afternoon as our best selves: outfits dust-free and full of energy. But by the end of the night, we were just happy to be wearing our big GAP hoodie while watching Justin Bieber. We customized ours at the GAP Hoodie House and it became a crucial source of physical and emotional comfort. It’s a piece of clothing that will hold a lot of happy beautiful memories for me.

Here’s my photo diary from my first Coachella as seen by my digital camera.

• We get distracted in Palm Springs and stop at some vintage mid-century furniture stores. It’s so cool seeing all of the mid-century modern pieces here — we even went to one specifically dedicated to collecting Charles & Ray Eames! We also eat a blueberry homemade pop tart!

• Finally arrive at Coachella just in time for Dijon — such a sweet performance.

• Then it’s The XX, one of my favorite bands from high school, at sunset. So special and this is their first time performing together in 8 years!

• We make the difficult decision to go to Turnstile instead of Moby. Dev Hynes makes an appearance with a cello accompaniment. I think they’re going to play Alien Love Call but they don’t. We summon the courage to run into the mosh pit for a few songs and don’t get punched in the face. It’s awesome.

• At midnight, we walk over to watch Blood Orange perform on a circular stage with Ian Isiah and Eva Tolkin. I love that Dev Hynes’s performance outfit is a long sleeve, capri track pants, and big headphones.

• I finally try a date shake! It’s everything I expected so the day is off to a great start. I’m wearing Frye boots and haven’t fully broken them in so I’m unsure how the day is going to go.

• First stop: Gap’s Hoodie House! Brendan get a zip hoodie that I already plan to steal later. We customize our hoodies with adorable patches and I immediately gravitate towards the GAP hoodie patch to put on my hoodie. We also add beads to the drawstrings!

• The woman customizing my hoodie has all of the patch options painted on her nails. I love the way GAP built out the Hoodie House — it’s such a clever activation and so fun to see everyone wearing their customized hoodies around the festival.

• We sit in the grass and watch Addison Rae. It’s a really fun performance I love the dancers and my dad sends an adorable message about how he’s streaming Coachella on YouTube and watching Addison Rae. Dara Allen is her stylist and I love her latex bikini referencing Britney Spears.

• Chicken nuggets + lemonade break before watching Sombr at sunset. He brought out Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins to perform 1979! It’s incredible. I love seeing how my friend and stylist, Brandon Tan has evolved Sombr’s look.

• Afterwards we go to Nine Inch Noize which was probably one of the most memorable performances for me. It’s a collaboration between Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize. The set design and lights are so cool and Trent Reznor is mesmerizing to watch.

• The Strokes go on at 9 PM and I have a greater appreciation for Julian Casablancas as he goes on tangents in between songs about the state of the world. He’s so over it but he sounds really good. He makes jokes about how he’s opening for Justin Bieber and it bums me out.

• We sit on the ground as we wait for Justin Bieber and I’m not sure what to expect because I’m not super familiar with his music. Seeing him perform with his 15 year old self on YouTube was so touching. I’m so glad that we stayed until the end. I’m a newly converted Belieber!!!!

• We get home at 4 AM exactly as Brendan predicted 6 hours ago. I laughed at him when he had said that because I thought it was dramatic but he was right.

• A chill schedule for us. We stop at Sherman’s Deli and get pastrami latkes — it is exactly what I need to get through the rest of the day.

• I steal Brendan’s zip hoodie and it’s the perfect crop for my outfit.

• We make it to Coachella right when Clipse is performing so we catch the end of their show. We meet up with my friends Izzi and Jade as we make our way to Major Lazer for sunset. Brendan and I brainstorm about our dream headliners (mine is Fleetwood Mac, Bon Iver, and Usher btw) I mention that it would be cool to see M.I.A live. AND THEN SHE COMES OUT AS A GUEST DURING MAJOR LAZER. We need to buy a lottery ticket after that!

• I’m fixated on lemonade these past few days. I get my second one of my day, cucumber mint flavored, and we all split chicken nuggets and really good french fries.

• Young Thug is next and Brendan knows all of the lyrics — it’s so cute and fun to be at these concerts with people who are fans. I hear him quietly singing the songs to himself and smile. Then we go to FKA Twigs but leave because it’s too hard to see anything.

• We head home early and watch TV 🥺 Brendan makes us a playlist of songs from all of the musicians we saw and I’m grateful for these memories that I’ll replay in my mind for a long time. Goodbye!!!!! And thank you GAP for making my first Coachella amazing and comfy. ♥︎ GAP Hoodie House Hallelujah♡