This guy went out on a branch too, charting his own way, but I’m not so sure how that worked out for him.
I understand that this is an international gathering. However, it is hosted squarely in Texas and if you’re going to wear a cowboy hat in Texas there are some things that you just can’t do. Here's a couple.
Cowboy hats and Crocs are natural enemies. Lump them together at your own peril.
Earlier I mentioned that neon shoes were in. In fact, lots of neon everything was in.
Why does this actually seem to work for this guy?
I love the look on this girl’s face when she sees this coming from around the corner.
Ok. My hands down favorite trend this year was the hipster, old school sports look. Short shorts. Tall socks. Vintage jerseys. All worn with self-aware irony of course.
Moments away from a pickup game.
Can you smoke and ball at the same time?
The puffy red shoes and pink pastel shorts let you know he's for real.
Serious, serious bonus points to this crew who went the extra mile and managed to meld the hotness of neon with the fully coordinated sports theme. Yes indeed.
Does this count as sporty?
My least favorite trend were dudes who were apparently too cool to get dressed. They got up, opened the bag of Hanes partially see through undershirts (v-necks preferred) slapped one on and called it a day. Scores of these partially clad men were roaming the streets.
The 60’s are always popular. We’ve been mining that decade for fashion inspiration for years.
Careful though. Your mileage may vary.
The clothing trend that simply won’t die is Emo of course. While it was represented well at SXSW this year, my favorite Emo kid had to be this guy. He’s perfect. And it’s made all the sweeter since a few steps away you can see the Emo-man he’ll blossom into.
A relatively new trend this season is Craft Chic, homemade garments and accessories that showcase your self-sufficiency and disdain for mass production. This girl is a shining example.
This one may still need to work at it a bit.
If you don’t have the time or the skills to make your own outfit, you can always go the other way and just dress like a prostitute. It never goes out of style and you are guaranteed to be popular.
And remember, the only thing better than hookers, are punk rock hookers.
For the guys, I think everyone got the memo that mustaches are back in a big way. Tons of them could be seen snuggled up over the lips of many festivalgoers. My favorite has to be this guy though. The waxing, the glasses, and the fact that he appears to have a perfect representation of his ‘stache on his clothing, puts him over the top.
The other thing dudes seemed to not be able to live without were enormo-cuffs. It doesn’t matter how much too long your pants are.
Just invert those bad boys up to your knees and you’re ready for a night out on the town.
And that brings us to another big trend for the ladies. One I am sad to report that seems to be in the nascent stage, with a long run ahead of it. That’s right. The return of the High Waist.
It can be done. This girl has a touch of the ‘50’s schoolteacher, but at least it’s got style.
And she seems happy.
This, though, I’m not so sure about.
And, um, yeah.
I don’t know if this counts as high waisted, or low topped or, ah, support garment, I… well…
Is that a bowtie necklace?
Congratulations! You’ve successfully made it through another installment of SXSWear: The Fashion of the Festival. Tune in soon for the third and final episode of this delightful trilogy.
Next time you’ll be rewarded with some cool parents and badass kids. You'll meet some outliers who refused to be categorized and be sure not to miss the interactive portion were you can vote on your favorite SXSW Fashion Couple!
Until then I’ll leave you with two of my favorite poster boys.
Can you spot the key SXSW elements?
-L. Pants
