Cowboys and Coquettes Clash At Coachella

Did you know searches for ‘baby blue dress’ rose by 132% after Lana Del Rey’s weekend one Coachella set? At least according to the ‘fashion experts’ at e-tailer Boohoo. While I’m taking this ‘study’ from said ‘experts’ with a grain of salt, it did get me thinking about Coachella’s continued cultural (and sartorial) influence.

A curiosity that initially began when I stumbled across the Instagram announcement from none other than former Coachella queen Vanessa Hudgens saying she was opting out of this year’s festivities. By the mid-2010s the High School Musical star was synonymous with the annual event, embodying the maximalist spirit of Bohemia with her floppy wide-brimmed hats, round sunnies, and who could forget those iconic flower crowns. So, without her signature flair for cultural appropriation gracing Coachella 2024, who should we be looking at for our summer wardrobe inspiration?

Because 'Espresso' is a Platinum certified hit at SHOWstudio, it only feels right to start with Sabrina Carpenter. The former Disney star made her Coachella and UK Top 10 debut in the same week and is quickly rising the ranks among today’s pop girls, even counting Kim K as a fan who dubbed her an official SKIMS girl. On weekend one she sported a custom Robert Cavalli look complete with a barely there miniskirt that would have made the late designer proud.

Standing at 1.51m, the American songbird has become the poster girl for a shift in the coquette trend that the likes of Sandy Liang have popularised. One that still flirts with girlhood but is all the more daring with an inescapable, in-your-face sex appeal. On weekend two she paired a sweet-as-candy lace mini dress with a motorcycle jacket as she serenaded boyfriend Barry Keoghan with less than subtle lyrics like ‘I’m your dream come true, when it’s on a platter for you’.

Of course, this take on femininity is nothing new. In fact, for 24-year-old Carpenter, it could probably be traced back to the early works of this year’s headliner Lana Del Rey. On the back of a motorcycle, she opened both of her sets by leading a leather-clad procession to the stage wearing a headline-making, baby blue, babydoll Dolce & Gabanna dress complete with pleated skirt and capped puff sleeves. The spitting image of an American girl doll. That is, before she took a spin on the stripper pole.

Going by the 20-year trend cycle, the return of the ‘sexy baby’ is right on time. At the turn of the millennium, Britney Spears and t.A.T.u. dominated fashion with their sexed-up take on tweendom, that found as many fans as it did critics. Of course, much has changed in the name of autonomy for men and women alike, that the flirty and fun ‘sexy baby’ doesn’t hold the weight that once had the Fox News morality police in hysterics. Or does it?

While artists like Del Rey are following the tradition of Courtney Love with a subversive wink to the patriarchal constraints she must cleverly navigate as a woman, the Carpenter's of the world risk perpetuating a feminine ideal ultimately rooted in misogyny. From politics to consumer attitudes, conservative ideologies have become inescapable and the ongoing rise of 'trad wives' — that is, women who reject feminism in favour of traditional gender roles —, poses a disheartening cultural shift towards dressing for the male gaze.

If sexing up those babydoll dresses, and school-girl skirts isn’t on the cards, there is another trend that interestingly affirms and subverts traditional gender expression; the timeless appeal of the cowboy. Lana Del Rey herself traded her sparking D&G for cowboy leathers complete with fringe and an obnoxiously oversized, bedazzled belt buckle as the ultimatetease of her upcoming album Lasso. And she wasn’t alone, with every trust-fund baby in attendance this year rocking some element of the yeehaw lifestyle, whether boots, hat or denim on denim.

With Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter continuing to dominate worldwide, the western craze had Coachella in a chokehold. This was most evident at the Guess Jeans compound, curated by Chief New Business Development Officer Nicolai Marciano. Ice Spice, Lila Moss, and street style darling Luka Sabbat were all spotted in their cowboy kicks while keeping cool with cocktails under the Indio Valley sun.

While not pioneers of the Western wave, Guess’ third consecutive year at Coachella definitely proves they are a favourite among today’s cowboys. At Pitti Uomo in January the brand unveiled their latest advancements in denim productions and proved the timeless appeal of Southern Californian style to the world's menswear enthusiasts. You only have to look at Marciano’s elevated take on the Americana aesthetic with his Guess USA A/W 24 collection. Layered fraying and contrasting washes on denim jackets and jeans add dimension to the collection, and further hit home the rugged sex appeal of Western wear.

I'll be the first to admit that the Coachella crowd are among the most averse to any cattle wrangling and lassoing that's demanded of a cowboy. As a microcosm of wealth (and hegemonic style choices), seeing how the aesthetic is being appropriated by this demographic is both visually and intellectually captivating. While the look will always be a signifier of rugged masculinity, the conventions of workwear utility also gave way to sex appeal (in menswear as much as womenswear), and subversion. The best example of this being Orville Peck and Willie Nelson's cover of 'Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other' this week.

As a mood board for how to dress when the temperatures rise, Coachella has proven to be an immense wealth of sartorial knowledge from today's taste makers. That is, today's pop stars and those wealthy enough to rough it in the desert. Seeing how they've equally reaffirmed and redefined traditional ideals of gender expression poses no shortage of questions. How queer can we make cowboy fashion? Where do pleated mini-skirts fit in Judith Butler's teachings? Either way, the trends are sure to trickle down to the wardrobes of us plebs in the coming months. I for one, can't wait to explore my inner 'sexy baby' this summer.