Pitchfork Music Festival 2009: Fashion

Hm. I see a lot of comfy, cute style here … some of it a little predictable, but nothing downright boring. LOVE the lady in the yellow flowered dress.

well maybe pitchfork has lost it’s coolness factor. not even hipsters care about the site much. maybe pitchfork along with the fest…has jumped the shark? lost its charm?

Cuties!!!

http://www.stylesymmetry.com

Been there every year and didn’t notice any discernible change in atmosphere or fashion this time around. Perhaps it is the flaneur who have grown up and become more predictable? But some thoughts:

Pitchfork’s MO has always been to hold an affordable festival, an alternative to the Lollas of the world. As such, maybe people are just scrimping. doesn’t cost a lot to be ‘avant garde’ I’m sure, but still, maybe some people who would have gone over the top were holding back for other reasons.

anytime you get thousands of people at an event you are going to get a wide slice of humanity. there are gonna be bros and families and less fashionable folk.

all in all i thought there was some great fashion. people who would downplay that are just being a snobby grumpus.

I think the girls in the first two photos have a very comfortable without trying too hard style. The other styles are interesting, but I agree that the actual “style” is missing and it lies more or less on trends.

I didn’t get a chance to go to the Pitchfork Festival this year, but I did drive past many times and took a glance at what the folks were wearing, but I didn’t really see anything that caught my eye. I wonder once festivals become really popular and trendy, that’s what happens to the fashion as well.

This post wasn’t a waste of my time because I truly enjoy
the feedback and hearing what others have to say about this particular subject.

Aside from that, I’m sorry to hear you feel that way about my OPINION.

Just to let you know, this particular post has nothing to do with
the music. I was focusing in on the style portion of the festival, which I do every year. The Pitchfork MUSIC Fest is clearly about the MUSIC but as a person with “a strong interest in style”, you should know better than anyone else that music and fashion go hand and hand. Therefore, if you go to an INDEPENDANT music festival, you expect to see people who dress INDEPENDANT of trends. Stylesetters, if you will. Which, I did not really see this year.

Unfortunately, I think your anger may have shielded your eyes from reading the words that were actually written.

Thanks for stopping by!

I don’t know what exactly you were looking for at this festival that isn’t pictured above. I see a lot of hipsters dressing in their normal/comfortable attire for a music festival. Isn’t that what you would expect? I think that people dressed appropriately for the weather, and since the festival ran allllll day long (with no in/outs) everyone had to “dress down” a bit – if you will. We all know that our most fashionable/interesting clothes aren’t our most comfortable so I don’t see why anyone being outside all day in crappy weather would want to dress their best.

Also I think that “hipster” or “indie” style is in general becoming more mainstream so everything you see isn’t going to be as shocking as it was a few years ago. Urban Outfitters, H&M, American Apparel, etc are places that everyone and their grandmother shops at nowadays so it is very easy to achieve an indie look.
This was my first year at pitchfork so I didn’t really know what to expect. I did see a lot more bro-types than I expected but as long as everyone was there supporting music they love then that is all that matters. To me, anyway.

Love the blog! Thanks

The so-called “problem” is that Pitchfork Music Festival keeps getting bigger and bigger every year due to the fact that independent music (or mainstream “indie” sounding music) today has garnered much more media exposure in the past few years. What most young and vague 20somethings are wearing, doing, listening to and watching today is a bigger generic re-hash of the unique and progressive happenings from a few years ago. Pitchfork.com, and the staggering upwelling of style sites everywhere factor into this as well. Honestly the line between mainstream and alternative has become so blurred nowadays.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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

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.