Sandhya Garg — Festival Season
Festival Outfits for Four Kinds of Festival
Desert · Field · City · Art Fair · 12 Pieces · XS–3XL
Quick Answer
Almost all festival style advice assumes one festival — hot, dry and Californian. In practice there are four, and the right outfit is different for each. Desert means 100°F afternoons, 50°F nights and dust. Field means mud, wet grass and rain at some point, guaranteed. Urban means concrete, no camping and a journey home. Art fair means indoors, seated, and people looking closely at what you are wearing. Three things hold across all four: natural fibres, a layer you can carry, and shoes you have already broken in.
Festivals are the one place fashion is genuinely a playground, and I make the kind of clothes people wear to them. But most festival content is a mood board rather than advice — fringe, sparkle, boho — with no reference to whether you will be standing in a dust bowl or ankle-deep in a wet field.
I am a Project Runway designer in Los Angeles, close to the desert festivals and with customers who go to all four kinds. So here is the version sorted by what you are actually standing on — which, conveniently, also produces the better photographs.
Four Festivals, Four Different Problems
| Type | The real problem | What to wear |
|---|---|---|
| Desert | A fifty-degree swing between afternoon and midnight, fine dust in everything, and almost no shade. | A kaftan or loose natural fibre for coverage without heat, a dense print that hides dust, and a real layer you can tie round your waist. |
| Field | Mud, wet grass and rain at some point — and a hem that wicks it upward all day once it gets wet. | Shorter than you think, or trousers. Never a maxi. Cotton dries; heavy linen stays cold and wet for hours. |
| Urban | Concrete radiates heat for hours after sunset, and you have to get home afterwards on public transport. | Something you would be happy to be seen in on the way home. Separates work best — this is the least costume-y of the four. |
| Art fair | Indoors, seated for long stretches, and people standing close enough to see how a garment is made. | Real handwork rather than applied sparkle. This is the one where an embroidered jacket earns its place — it will be looked at properly. |
The three constants: natural fibres, a layer you can carry, and shoes broken in before you go. Everything else is situational.
Dress for what you are standing on. Sand, mud, concrete or carpet — it decides more than any trend does.
Three Things That Hold Everywhere
Natural fibres, always
Cotton and linen move air across the skin and dry fast; synthetics hold heat against you and stay damp. In a crowd at 4pm this is not a preference, it is the difference between enjoying the set and leaving it.
A layer you can carry
Every festival gets cold eventually, and the layer only helps if you still have it. A kimono ties round your waist; a jacket does not disappear into a bag. Anything you would have to hold all afternoon gets left behind by 6pm.
Both hands free
Phone, drink, and whatever you are carrying. Pockets or a crossbody, and a neckline that stays put — anything strapless or needing adjustment becomes a job you do all day instead of watching the stage.
The Festival Edit · Twelve Pieces · XS to 3XL
Twelve Pieces, Sorted by Festival
Artisanal prints, bold colour, and silhouettes for the woman who refuses to blend in. All verified in stock today at their real prices.
Desert — Coverage Without Heat
Field & Mud — Shorter Than You Think, or Trousers
City — Something You'd Wear on the Way Home
Art Fair — Where Handwork Gets Looked At Properly
Most styles XS · S · M · L · XL · XXL · XXXL · Low stock stated on each card · Free US shipping over $250
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I wear to a music festival?
It depends which kind. A desert festival needs coverage without heat, a dense print for dust and a layer for a fifty-degree temperature drop. A field festival needs a shorter hem or trousers because of mud. A city festival needs something you would happily wear home. Across all of them: natural fibres, a layer you can carry, and broken-in flat shoes.
Is a maxi dress a good festival outfit?
At a desert festival, yes — length is coverage against sun with no shade. At a field festival, no. A long hem in wet grass wicks moisture and mud upward and stays cold against your legs for the rest of the day. That single distinction decides more festival outfits than any trend does.
Why is a kimono better than a jacket at a festival?
Because it ties around your waist. A layer only helps if you still have it at eleven at night, and anything you have to carry gets abandoned by early evening. A kimono also works open for shade in the afternoon, wrapped closed after dark, and flat as a blanket for a late set.
Why choose a print rather than a plain colour?
Dust and mud. Both show on a pale solid within the first hour, while a dense print carries a whole day of either invisibly. Saturated colour also holds its depth in hard sunlight, where pale neutrals bleach out to a flat shape in photographs.
What shoes should I wear to a festival?
Flat, broken in before you go, and closed enough to keep grit or mud out. Stages are further apart than they look and you will cover far more ground than you expect. A heel of any height is a decision you will regret at about six in the evening.
How do I get dust or mud out afterwards?
Let mud dry completely and brush it off before it goes near water — wet mud pushes into the weave. For dust, shake the garment out thoroughly and rinse in cool water the same night, since heat sets fine grit permanently. Instructions by fabric are in our garment care guide.
Keep Reading
Colour
Ordered Colour, Not Random
Why some multicolour reads as costume.
The Question
Lineage or Borrowing?
Where boho actually comes from.
Afterwards
Garment Care Guide
Let mud dry. Rinse dust cool.
Packing
45 Resort Wear Ideas
For the trip either side of the festival.
About the Writer
Sandhya Garg is a Project Runway Season 13 designer who won two challenges on the show and presented her collection at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. She studied womenswear at London College of Fashion and worked at Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Liberty London, and Alice Temperley. Her Los Angeles label creates limited-edition wearable-art clothing in original hand-drawn prints — featured in Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Vogue online, in sizes XS–3XL with made to measure available.
Project Runway · Vogue · Marie Claire · XS–3XL
For the woman who refuses to blend in.
Sandhya Garg is a Los Angeles boutique creating limited-edition artisanal clothing in original hand-drawn prints, hand embroidery and heritage textiles. Sizes XS–3XL, shipped from Scottsdale within 1–3 days.
Leave a comment