My Guide to Cunty Coachella Outfits
Self-explanatory title...I've looked fab every year!
One of my favourite times of the year is when I get to take my annual trip to California in April for Coachella. My first time going was just two years ago in 2023 and I vividly remember telling my friends when we got back to our campsite on Day 1 after seeing Bad Bunny: “I’m coming back every single year.” It’s no secret how much music rules over so much of my personal life—the friends I have, the jobs I work, practically everything leads back to it. Coachella has become one of my favourite places to discover new music, dance with my friends, and see artists I never thought I’d get to experience live.
Beyond the music, so much of the fun I have is within the months leading up to the festival: planning my outfits. Coachella fashion has interested me since I was around 14 or 15, it was a large part of why I even dreamt of going at that age. Everybody knows I love an excuse to dress up. What’s become special for me is watching how my personal style has evolved from the last two years to now, where I’m approaching my third year attending. This can sound as cringe as you want it to, but everything I’ve worn has always felt special to me because of the thought and parts of my personality that I put into them. I rarely look back on an outfit and cringe at what I wore, because I can tell it was authentic to what I wanted at the time. I’ve even noticed the way I include elements of old outfits I’ve worn while putting together new ones—almost like I’m re-visiting them with a fresh mind. With Coachella just over a month away, it only feels right to dedicate a post to how I put together outfits for the very fashion-centric festival—including looking back on previous outfits (what worked about them and what didn’t) and what I’m wearing for 2025.
My #1 Coachella Outfit-Building Rule of Thumb
Before looking at my previous outfits, I want to briefly touch on the single rule that always helps me start planning my outfits. That rule is finding one specific piece that I want to build the outfit around. Looking for that piece is always the hardest part, but it’s not something I actively search out. Usually, it involves me either finding a super cool vintage item on Depop, or looking at up and coming designers and writing them down to come back to when it’s time to start buying stuff, or it’s just as simple as looking in my closet and asking myself “What’s in here that I’ve ALWAYS wanted to style but haven’t had the place to do so?” I always find it easiest to start there—it’s the common thread between all my Coachella outfits that (I don’t think) most people wouldn’t notice!
2023 Outfits
One thing I always try to do when putting together outfits for Coachella is keep my eye on small, preferably local, designers to commission for custom pieces. On day one I wore a custom white top from my lovely friend Max’s brand—Sagradesa. This was the piece I wanted to centre my whole outfit around—I love an all white outfit and I think this one specifically is what got me into incorporating hints of red into my day to day style. I honestly don’t have many notes for this outfit, if I were to do it now I’d maybe try a different belt and shorter pair of boots, but it looked great regardless!
My day two outfit was built around the top I got custom from a Singapore-based designer called ssdslsns. I knew for this one I wanted to just have a very distressed, apocalyptic but also kinda garbage-looking outfit. My friend Madi crocheted my leg warmers for me on the drive up to Indio and at our campsite to compliment that. I think looking back, this may have been my favourite outfit for the weekend. I was wearing a pair of thrifted shorts with it, the knit wasn’t too thick so I didn’t feel confined from the heat, and I was SO COMFORTABLE. No notes to be honest.
While I loved my day three outfit and to this day I think it looks great, it was one of my most annoying ones to wear. I made the bra and skirt myself—the skirt was fine but I definitely had a few wardrobe malfunctions with the bra. On top of this, I was terribly sunburned (you can kind of see in the picture how red I am), so I was even more uncomfortable from that. Other than that, I put this outfit together surrounding the blue/green braided sleeves I wore from Isa Boulder. The skirt was made using a soft cotton fabric and direct-to-garment printing to print images of some of my favourite things onto it, and overall I love how it turned out. I’d honestly say this was the favourite for the weekend if it weren’t for how uncomfortable I was the whole day from the bra and my sunburn.
2024 Outfits
One thing I’ll say right now, there is not a single thing I’d change about any of my outfits from 2024. I’d even say they’re far better than the ones from 2023. My day one outfit was completely different from what it was actually supposed to be—as in I changed it one week before I left for the festival. My friend Leora originally designed this top for me to wear with a long, flowy skirt that I had, but when I tried it on, I ended up really loving it as a hooded-dress. I scrapped the skirt and instead just stacked some belts to make the a bit more interesting to look at, Madi let me borrow her gorgeous boots, and this outfit came to be. Still love her to this day.
The day two outfit was MAJOR for me as a long-time No Doubt and Gwen Stefani fan. I don’t usually opt to dress inspired by the artists playing Coachella, but I knew I wanted to do a No Doubt-era Gwen-inspired look—with my own sort of twist on it of course. For this outfit, everything EXCEPT the Rock Steady bikini was already in my closet. My mom pulled out vintage bags, shoes, and bandana’s from Gwen’s 2000s brand L.A.M.B. and to me, that was truly was made the outfit. This, and my next outfit, were absolutely my fave outfits from both years I’ve attended.
I’m a Hysteric Glamour girl DOWN and this was what that outfit was built around. I collect a number of vintage HG pieces and when I saw this one, I knew it was perfect for Coachella. Once I found the top, the outfit came to mind almost instantly. I immediately envisioned doing a sporty-sort of look. I wore Madi’s 90s rave shorts and wrist sweatbands, and to top it off I found the most perfect pair of vintage Adidas wrestling boots—something that had been on my want list FOREVER—to complete the outfit.
What Am I Wearing For 2025?
While I do have all my outfits done already, I’m happily gatekeeping them until it’s time for the festival (#sorry). I’ve still followed my traditional rule of building the outfit around a specific piece, but also looking at playing with a more diverse range of fabrics and textures. With Gaga being on day one, I’m leaning into an outfit that blatantly SCREAMS me. While my outfit will not really be the same at all, I’ve been feeling inspired by the dress Gaga wore made out of Hello Kitty stuffed animals—so do with that what you will!
For day two, I’m definitely wearing green for Charli (and Green Day). I found the most gorgeous outfit from a smaller LA-based designer who prioritizes sustainability through re-working and utilizing natural dying methods to make her pieces.
Finally, day three is all about comfort. I’m currently reworking a dress I thrifted back in October as an effort to work within what I already own and cut back on my shopping habits. That’s been the goal within both my day one and three outfits.
I’m so so so excited for this year’s Coachella now that it’s just around the corner, I hope you enjoyed this lil guide!!!! xoxo