When one hears the word “desert,” the immediate picture is that of weary travelers riding through sandstorms, facing the heat. This biome is not for the weak, so all who come must be prepared for a lack of water, heat, and many other hostile factors. In spite of nature’s challenges however, organizers for Coachella decided that the Colorado Desert was the ideal place to host the music festival!
Coachella, a music event in April, has been around for nearly 25 years. The festival draws hundreds of artists and thousands of fans into the venue to perform and celebrate each other. However, in recent years, certain aspects of the festival have become more of a competition. It has gained the nickname of the “Influencer Olympics,” as media stars devour the event and use it to market themselves and their partnered brands. One of the main ideas in this “contest” is the outfits of the guests and performers there. Coachella takes “concert outfits” to the next level and brings the judging of said outfits to an even higher standard.
Charli D’amelio, known mostly from TikTok, was one of the most talked about influencers who attended this year because of her revealing outfits. This sparked unexpected discussion and controversy, which opened it up to a bigger issue.
The first outfit Charli posted, and presumably the first outfit she wore at the festival, was not too revealing at all in my opinion. The only questionable part of the outfit is her usage of a belt as a top. In earlier pictures she wore the belt as a belt, and the top as a top, but for this photo, she decided to switch. In my eyes, let’s never make that decision again. From her platform, D’amelio has a decent chance at turning this into a trend if she truly wanted to, but I think this would be a bad idea. In simple words, it just doesn’t look good. However, with that said, the contrast between the tight waist and flowy arm sleeves is visually appealing and seems comfortable.
Her next outfit sparked incredible controversy, as users on several social media platforms reported that they could see through D’amelio’s dress in numerous posts. They perceived it as too revealing, yet they failed to remember that she is twenty years old. Many people still see D’amelio as the sixteen-year-old she was when she first started receiving attention, and they haven’t recognized that Charli’s growth in maturity has been matched by a change in style. One user commented on this Instagram post: “Everyone can stay mad lol she grew up end of conversation, she’s not 16 anymore” (@abbyy.gar). The rest of the comment sections were a mix of people agreeing and disagreeing with her choices.
This third outfit was one of my favorites from the entire event, because it puts style, coordination, and foresight all together. This outfit shows more overall skin than the white dress post, yet that outfit received more hate. This led to D’amelio eventually making a video post saying “Hey you guys… it’s Charli, and I just really need to admit this to you guys… I actually do have nipples…” (@charlidamelio on TikTok).
While I personally liked her outfits, I think this situation can be opened up into a discussion about what is “too revealing” for women to wear nowadays. The young influencer did a relatively good job at handling the situation calmly, and points out that it is just a part of our body, and something that everyone has.
Regardless of the controversy surrounding her outfits at Coachella this year, it was visible through her social media posts that Charli D’amelio had a fun time. When thanking Celsius, the brand who she was working with for the event, she wrote, “Thanks for the best time.” I, for one, am already looking forward to next year’s musical festival, across its scandals, outfits, music, heat waves, and controversy.
