This year at Lollapalooza, no matter where you turned your head to, you’d see people shimmering from head to toe.
Celebrating its 27th year, the festival is not only a place to listen to top artists from around the world, but Lollapalooza is also a great excuse to go all out with self-expression where people from all ages will be sporting summery and creative get-ups.
Out of all the outfits that were seen this year at the Grant Park music festival, one element stood out: glitter.
Not considered to be a conventional day-to-day embellishment, the shimmery powder that we’re used to seeing in art projects from school have started to be sported as a look. We’re not just talking about iridescent bags or sequined tops, but the glitter itself is slathered on the body, face, and hair. Aside from glitter, some festival goers kicked it up a notch by adding sequins and rhinestones to their face. Others even covered their entire torso, wearing it as if it were a shirt.
These festival trends have been an opportunity for indie businesses to promote their work.
Such is the case of the couple Paige and Ryne Iseminger, who found an outlet for their creativity in festival fashion and saw an opportunity with the recent glitter craze.
Their pop-up stand located by the Buckingham Fountain during the festival had lines with a wait time of almost two hours long consisting of girls that wanted to get “glittered up.” Girls ranging from 18 to 28 years could get this service at $15 per application.
“The trend started last year at Lollapalooza. I would always wear glitter on my face. Girls would stop me in the crowd and ask me where I got my glitter, (so) I started selling little jars,” said Paige.
The glitter is their most demanded product and it is homemade using biodegradable and vegan ingredients, the couple said. The aloe-gel-based product is safe to apply anywhere in the body and is easy to remove, Paige assured.
“Every year it changes, it evolves. Last year it was all more on the pastel line, this year we’re more in the neons, the bright colors,” said Paige.
The Chicago based couple agrees that Lollapalooza has been their best festival yet. Just one day of work at the festival earned them about $15,000.
Bobbi Throckmorton is one of the festival goers that decided to also incorporate the glitter to her look. The 20-year-old student from Northwestern University follows many accounts on social media that dedicate their craft to shimmery embellishments which were a source of inspiration for her festival outfit.
“I don’t think I would wear (glitter) in my daily life, but festivals are definitely an excuse to wear it,” Bobbi said.
She applied the glitter on herself before coming to the festival. For that, she purchased a small bottle of body glitter online.
“It just kind of makes this big community where you can compliment the person next to you, like ‘oh my god, hey I love your glitter,’ so I think it makes your experience really happy… it just makes it more fun, and it makes you look more welcoming to people,” Bobbi added.
Paige sees these festivals as an opportunity for people to embrace themselves and their identity.
“At the end of the day, festivals are where you come to embrace yourself, jump out of the box… festivals are a completely safe zone to use fashion to show your personality... it’s their moment of shine to not be judged,” Paige added.
