What to wear to a Folk Festival

Boy, tie-dye has come a long way if the dyers can create a guitar image on the back of a T-shirt. Only I don’t think that it really is tie-dye–the ancient process of dipping knotted fabrics bit by bit into vats of color. Instead I suspect it’s one of the new types of digital printing. Whatever it is, tie-dye, authentic or otherwise, seems to be making a comeback as one of the fashion-statements I saw at the Tucson Folk Festival on Saturday.

I am going to give you a kind of “red carpet” view of how people dressed for the Festival, but, first, two images from the row of booths lining Church Street.

Selling clothes at a street fair – always include tie-dye

On the left is a large example of this newish “tie-dye” effect. Someone’s having a lot of fun — that’s for sure. On the right, in stark contrast are white knitted dresses unlike any I have ever seen at any street fair — and I’ve been in and visited hundreds of fairs. The quality appeared to be quite good, but tailored, white dresses for sale on the street? Curious choice. Usually, street clothes are a riot of color and pattern.

People-watching while listening to music

Now on to people and how they dressed for the Festival. Sorry, these are not all neatly lined up like the images from Hollywood’s red carpet events. Most were taken while I was sitting on a small boulder within the walls of the San Agustin Presidio where one of the Festival stages was located this year. And the subjects were on the move. But here goes…

On the left: the green plaid shirt with purple leggings is nice and the green-with-green abstract pattern on the other woman’s shirt is also attractive. These 3 outfits appear intentional.
In the center, another version of a woman in plaid and a man in black. There were several Men in Black at this event.
On the right, a more casual approach to dressing for the Festival –and it was the most common style of clothing: T-shirts and short-ish pants. I haven’t seen a fanny-pack in a long time. And with a pink and black chevron patterned handbag?
The camera-lens-ladened photographer looks harried; while the woman taking photos, on the left, with her iPhone is calm as can be.

The weather was warm — finally–and some women opted for sun dresses, like these two did.

What well-dressed men wore

And as for the men: I like the plaid cap with the Mickey shirt; it provides a bit of ethnic color. Somewhere at this event someone was playing Highland music, I’m sure. After all, it is a Folk Festival that emphasizes music. In the center, one man outfitted for a cycling tour while another man, seated,was wearing a suburban classic outfit in pink shirt and black shorts. Then there is the man on the right. I call him the Dancing Man. I’ve seen him at other festivals and he always goes right up to the front of the stage and dances–sometimes with others, most often by himself. He seems to have a fan club, too.

And if you are five years old and dancing with your grandma and grandpa, then rainbow stripes are just the thing to wear!

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