Fashion Lessons from the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival

This past weekend, Cody and I dropped by the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, a festival that we did not go to last year due to our sheer inability to get out of the apartment before 1:00 pm on weekends. It was a move that we have supremely regretted since, because, really, how many cities offer you awesome nationally-known bands playing in a park for free? We are currently in this phase of trying to enjoy all our city has to offer so that we won't have any regrets if we do move in the near future, so not attending the festival this year was not really an option.

And boy, am I glad I attended. Many lessons were taken away from Hardly Strictly Bluegrass this year, including (but not limited to):

1) You know you are getting old/lame/growing up when you identify more with the parents of babies or little kids than with the people your own age smoking weed next to you.

2) You know you are getting old/lame/cranky when you become irritated by the constant rush of people stepping on your blanket in their zeal to exit the premises after Bonnie "Prince" Billy has finished playing.

3) You know you are destined to live in the suburbs/the Midwest when you emphatically agree with your husband that the concert was so much more enjoyable before ALL THOSE PEOPLE started meandering in.

However, these life lessons were nothing compared to the fashion lessons I learned from my fellow concert-goers this weekend, which include:

1) Overalls are the shit. Bonus if you pair said overalls with the genius fashion design that is the dickey.

2) Two other items of "rural clothing" making a splash at the festival this weekend were the straw hat and the plaid shirt (the plaid shirt should, however, be paired with skinny jeans -- NOT overalls -- to achieve maximum hipster-rural chic).

3) For the fellas, it is preferred that you pair your overalls, dickey, and straw hat with the ironic mustache, as modeled here by Jason Schwartzman in the hipster-friendly movie, The Darjeeling Limited.

4) Sometimes, however, overalls are a little heavy when it is warm out, so a popular choice is to cut off a pair of your (preferably tight) pants so that you are now sporting a pair of very short cut-offs (as modeled here by Never Nude Tobias Fünke). Any other type of short is unacceptable. Do you want to look like your dad, who unfashionably sports long, pleated Dockers shorts in varying shades of khaki? No, no you do not.

5) The cut-offs are best paired with tube socks in
varying patterns. And a vest.

6) Don't believe for a second that tie-dye is dead. It isn't.

7) It is, however, best worn with gypsy headbands (as modeled here by Mischa Barton; so boho-chic).

8) And finally, never underestimate the willingness of the white male (of all ages, shapes, and subcultures) to seize any opportunity he can to strut around without a shirt. Extra points if you pair your shirtless look with aviators, as seen here.

Overall, though, it was a good time, and I'm super glad we went, because we saw some good bands and it was FREE! But I have to admit that, like any event in San Francisco, the people-watching was the best part.