Photograph by Inari Briana
Miranda
From: Phoenix, Arizona
The Fest: I love dancing. There is dancing, and then there is dancing with a thousand people who also love dancing. I’ve met my soul family thanks to music festivals.
The Look: About a year ago I started a festival fashion company, where I design and handmake the dreamiest, one-of-a kind pieces! This set is one of my favorites because it makes me feel like a Rodeo Disco Mermaid.
Photograph by Inari Briana
Tori and Alex
From: Orlando, Florida
The Fest: “We visited Imagine Music Festival for our six-month anniversary,” Tori says. “The energy of the people you meet at these festivals is like no other. Everyone follows PLUR (peace, love, unity, and respect, the common principles of rave culture) and it just makes the experience so unique and enjoyable.”
The Look: “You could ask anyone I know—this outfit describes my fashion aesthetic perfectly,” Tori says. “I love anything colorful and neon! I got it custom made from Sassypantsthelabel, a small UK based clothing brand.”
“My outfit describes how outgoing I am,” Alex says. “It was super fun to match with Tori!”
Photograph by Inari Briana
Kevin
From: Perry, Florida
The Fest: I love music festivals because they give you the opportunity, for one weekend, to be your most authentic self and be in the presence of so many like-minded people. I grew up thinking I was weird and there was no one else like me; attending music festivals, I very quickly found my tribe. It’s the music that brings us together.
The Look: One thing I dislike more than anything is showing up to a party and find that someone has the same outfit on as me. So this year, I decided to tailor all my outfits myself. This year’s festival theme was Aquatic, and I wanted to look like Poseidon or even the king of Atlantis himself! I needed to turn heads—and that’s what I did.
Photograph by Inari Briana
Sky
From: Chicago, Illinois
The Fest: I love going to festivals like Imagine because that is where I feel at home. I know I can be myself without worrying about judgment from others—the EDM community is truly all about peace, love, unity, and respect.
The Look: I am a spooky person year-round, so my outfit was inspired by my love of all things scary. The entire outfit took a month to plan and was not 100 percent finished until a day before the festival. My favorite part has to be the mask; it was eye-catching and shocked pretty much everyone who saw it.
Photograph by Inari Briana
Hannah
From: Columbus, Ohio
The Fest: I am a professional shuffle dancer and have always loved EDM. Music festivals bring all different kinds of people together! You will be in a crowd looking one direction seeing a purple mohawk princess rocking her outfit, and the other way see a man who looks like he prefers country music but is loving life at a house stage! All stigmas, inhibitions and judgements are gone and we are one.
The Look: Lisa Frank will always be the best—I pulled every ounce of inspiration from her! I ordered this set from a UK designer, McEwan Studio—it was supposed to arrive the day before we left for Imagine, but I was heartbroken when it got delayed. Then I got a notification it had arrived at the post office the morning of our drive. Being the crazy girl I am, I called the post office and convinced them to hold the package for me! My husband picked it up and we hit the road two hours later than we had planned. It was definitely worth being late for!
Photograph by Inari Briana
Allen
From: Owen, Wisconsin
The Fest: A group of friends I met online wanted to go last year, but the festival got canceled (due to Hurricane Nicholas). We all love the music and artists—I had never been to a festival like this!
The Look: I was once dared to wear this maid outfit—I went through with it, and the smiles I saw while wearing it made me want to do it even more! My friend bought me the collar and cuffs as a joke back in the day—adding them to the maid outfit just felt right for the crowd at Imagine Fest.
Photograph by Inari Briana
Kia
From: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The Fest: I love festivals like these, not only because I love the music, but because there’s so much to do! They give me the ultimate feeling of freedom and creativity.
The Look: My outfit was inspired by sunset/golden hour colors. I did the paintings on my legs myself—I was planning on only doing one small sun, but I zoned out and kept painting bigger doodles and ended up with a little leg art gallery! My favorite part of my outfit was the mushroom hat: I bought it the at the festival pre-party and just had to wear it because it went with the colorful vibe!
Photograph by Inari Briana
Carolyne
From: South Florida
The Fest: Festivals let me escape reality—it’s a magical place where strangers become friends. I attend two to three festivals a year. Imagine definitely got my heart: I already bought my ticket for next year!
The Look: I create all my costumes. My look is aquatic theme-inspired: this mermaid outfit I’m wearing, I decorated with rhinestones and glitter.
Photograph by Inari Briana
Tiara
From: Austin, Texas
The Look: I love rainbows and colorful things, so having an outfit where there’s rainbows—which double as pockets to hold all my rave essentials—was a definite win!
Photograph by Inari Briana
Gio
From: Tampa, Florida
The Fest: I always love camping at festivals. It’s a great way to really detach from worries and be present with good energy!
The Look: Green is clearly my favorite color right now! My hair was a solid color but faded and ended up matching my outfit. I thrifted the shirt and made it into a tank top, and got the pashmina here at Imagine.
A version of this article appears in our December 2022 issue.
