Pitchfork Music Festival 2009: Fashion

July 21st, 2009

The photos above are from the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival which took place this past weekend in Chicago. I've attended this festival since its inception and started capturing style at the festival in 2007. With several of them under my belt, I can honestly say that the indie spirit the fest once had is gone and with that, went the style. I understand that the weather had a great influence on the attire this year but rain isn't a good enough excuse for leaving your style at home(Hello, LONDON!).

In general, Pitchfork Fest is notorious for being a hipster mating ground but this year it was just about as "hipster" as being at a Cubs game. The area was littered with people in absurd get ups (i.e. banana suits, alien costumes), what some probably assumed were hipsters, but from my perspective, was mainly full of families with their children and bros.

After editing my film I was left thinking, "Where were all the cool people, the people that actually visit the website on a daily basis??".

The pictures I took are not necessarily of people I thought were the style setters of the fest but stylish/interesting people that stood out, in one way or another, from the crowd.

Judge for yourself. Mainstream or 'Just Right' for the Pitchfork crowd. If you were there, I want to hear your thoughts, too.

On the other hand, the music, SPOT ON and Wayne Coyne will forever hold a piece of my heart.

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Submitted by Amy O (not verified) on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 16:36.

I think you're right to say that the fashion was mostly dull. The word "Pitchfork" should strike reverent fear in the hearts of indie hipsters. One would hope that would translate to festival attire. A few looks that are well put together and well thought out (love the hat in the first look, and long lace over-shirt) ... Also, it's wise to avoid fashion blogs if you're overly sensitive and don't handle criticism well.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 16:28.

This may be hard for someone who judges everyone by what they're wearing to understand, but some people don't care what you think and just want to be comfortable and have fun. If I'm going to be outside all day at a summer music concert, I'm going to just put on a t-shirt and shorts. Maybe that makes me a "bro" but I enjoyed myself and was not disappointed by how everyone else chose to dress themselves.

Submitted by Andie (not verified) on Mon, 08/03/2009 - 12:58.

I really like your site! You spot some really cool fashions!

Submitted by sarah elizabeth (not verified) on Sun, 07/26/2009 - 20:57.

Just because there are kids and families there doesn't make it uncool. I am a mother of 2 children and I like to expose them to lots of different things--my kids are actually a lot more unique, original, and interesting than most adults I know--and can hold pretty awesome conversations. I agree with some of the comments above, the tone of the article sounded pretty judgmental.

Submitted by Emily (not verified) on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 16:38.

I forgot to add before - regarding your comment on there being families at the festival... Okay. Kids can be annoying. Having little kids at a festival probably immediately brands it as not cool. But really, I hope that my kids are so well behaved that I can expose them to the things I love - including music - and that I don't have to give up the life that I enjoyed just because I became a breeder. (Yeah I don't exactly want my kids to hear some of the conversations I overheard, but the idea that I could have a cool little family is nice.)

Submitted by Emily (not verified) on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 16:31.

The alien costumes - that would be associated with the Flaming Lips set, right? I saw a bunch of guys dressed up in ridiculous outfits specifically for the Flaming Lips on Sunday. So it had little to do with the absurd and everything to do with the aesthetics of the Flaming Lips. And many Flaming Lips fans are so rabid that I can imagine that they would wear costumes all 3 days of the fest, not just Sunday.

Also - I went to the Festival only on Sunday, but I saw plenty of interesting sartorial choices. I saw a kid with a baseball cap that was actually basket - a little basket as the cap itself, and even a wicker brim. He was with a girl who certainly had her own style - I would have classified her as a fashion eccentric. Regardless of her eccentricity, she was committed to a look that was unlike anyone else's there.

Having gone to the festival for a few years now myself, I'd say that this year's fashion choices were at least more varied than what I saw last year - last year, everyone was wearing duplicates. Boys and girls all had neon dunks and there were a million girls in the same American Apparel skirt. This year, at least, the only duplicitous item I saw were Wilco t-shirts.

Submitted by Linda (not verified) on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 16:08.

I find it really off putting that you complain about not having sufficient enough material to shoot at this year's Pitchfork, but yet you still put pictures up of people in outfits you deem just worthy enough. It isn't very gracious, it makes you and your blog seem really second rate and amateur, and it leaves a bad taste in your viewers' mouth.

If what you are trying to achieve is to inspire the Chicago fashion scene then a little less of a judgmental attitude and a lot more of a documentarian's approach needs to be taken on your part.

Sad because Chicago really needs a good Fashion blog and this kind of approach is simply embarrassing.

Submitted by Anon (not verified) on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 15:02.

Eeek to the picture of the girl in the oversized shirt and too-small sized jean shorts... For such a cute figure, she really cut it up and accentuated things in a less-than-flattering style.

Also, why in the world did you include the girl in the t-shirt with the jacket wrapped around her waste? It really wasn't a stylish outfit, but on top of that, it really didn't seem to be a disaster...more just a look that says "just rolled out of bed and headed on over, don't really care what I look like"...

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 22:59.

I have attended Pitchfork the past 3 years and I thought there were some great outfits (I gotta say, I was workin' it more than most of the pictures you shot and was very comfortable throughout the weekend).

I don't understand why you decided to waste your time shooting "non-stylesetters" and then complain about them not being up to your standards?

As a street style photographer, shouldn't you have an eye for selecting the best of your surroundings (and also crediting the stylish instead of discrediting the people you shot)?

Well, I suppose you don't have to do ANY of those things, but most people would assume you would. I'll also add, though I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, there were an estimated 50,000 people at Pitchfork... surely you didn't see everyone that was dressed to your expectations.

I know I was all over the place and saw some stellar outfits. Just sayin.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 10:43.

I just think that it is a mistake to judge people the way you have in this post. Why not just post the pictures and let them speak for themselves, or add something positive about why you captured each person - and let people make their own assessments in the comments? This is one of the reasons The Sartorialist is so successful. He doesn't harbor any negativity or rock anyone's boat. That seems to be what you're doing here and it gives the entire site a snarky/unapproachable vibe, which drives people away.

Nevertheless, I think all of these people look very cute and there is a variety to the styles. Just as anywhere you go there will always be a great spectrum of styles and people and I do think there were lots of really unique styles there. This is evident in a lot of Clayton Hauck's photos from the festival that he has on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/claytonhauck/sets/72157621520348561/

I think maybe you just missed some of them.