Despite its 12 years of growing renown, Rock the Garden is not a fashionable festival.
While bro tanks were few and far between, there were too many concertgoers at the two-day event at the Walker Art Center last weekend sporting billowing short sleeve shirts, flip-flops and shorts that either revealed the bottom of the posterior or extended beyond the knee.
Fortunately, a few fashion-forward individuals raised the collective style quotient through their carefully curated ensembles. Here are four of the style-savvy whose outfits stood out:
Rachel Oelke
While Chuck Taylors were a close second to flip-flops in the footwear department at Rock the Garden, Oelke’s complemented her floral print dress. These two garments would normally clash, but the pink hue and broken-in appearance of the shoes gave the outfit a playful edge. Also, the blue accents on Oelke’s headband brought out the black in her dress, making both her dress’ printed pink flowers and shoes pop.
Annalise Bratt
While dressing like Stevie Nicks circa 1977 is all the rage, Bratt’s outfit captured Bohemian verve that similar variants at the festival lacked. A slight purple paint smear on her faded blue jacket’s right shoulder gave the ensemble a lived-in feel, and the faded patina of both her jacket and dress were more California dreaming than Minnesota nice.
Nick Brannan
Brannan gives hats a good name and makes a case for buying vintage clothes. His slightly loose ‘60s shirt radiates a nonchalant vibe, which balances out his skinny jeans and beat-up work boots. Brannan’s hat is what men should be wearing, not the pathetic trilbies that the sartorially unaware routinely sport.