Best Plus-Size Festival Looks to Shop, According to Two Teen Vogue Editors
Festival season is all about music, self-expression, and bold fashion statements. But for plus-size folks, what should be an exciting opportunity to show off their style often comes with a frustrating side quest: finding clothes that actually fit, flatter, and feel fun and trendy.
Your body doesn’t need to change to fit festival season fashion. The industry does. But in the meantime, here’s a few brands that gave me some indelible festival looks for Coachella. And while weekend two is slowly approaching you’ll be able to get use out of these pieces for the next few months through every festival. Check out our editors' top plus-size festival picks, because every body deserves to dance under the sun in something fabulous.
Aiyana Ishmael, Associate Editor
For my first Coachella experience, I truly wanted to lean into the aesthetic that’s been built over the years, but what I quickly realized is that not all festival clothes are made the same. Most brands toting their festival collections didn’t venture beyond a size 12, so I knew this mission to look good and feel good would take a little more work, which is usually the plus-size fashionista way.
Many plus-size people are forced to get creative—layering, DIY-ing, or thrifting—just to participate in trends that thinner bodies are automatically catered to. The good news? Style is about more than size tags. It’s about attitude, fit, and how you wear the piece, not just what it is. Over the years, I’ve learned being plus-size in this current era of fashion means really having to find a sense of style because you’re usually forced to build off of pieces that aren’t necessarily meant for the occasion you’re attending.
Mesh, cut-outs, and body-hugging fits can absolutely work on larger bodies — it’s on brands to start creating them. But while that day is still on its way where plus-size people can step into any store and find a trend festival look, we’ve got a few brands who are ahead of the curve.
Festival fashion is bold by nature, and that can be intimidating when society constantly tells plus-size folks to shrink themselves. But festival grounds are the perfect place to reclaim space, experiment with silhouettes, and wear what makes you feel flirty, and stylish. Adding accessories—bangles, chains, dramatic sunglasses—are also a key factor to festival style.
I went with a ton of fun pieces from my staple brands: Gia/IRL, What Lo Wants, and Eloquii. They have never failed me yet. I also played around with accessories and hats, which aren't my norm, but I was excited to start testing the waters.
I was absolutely obsessed with my Tecovas but they did not last all weekend as my feet began to hurt terribly. I opted for Nike sneakers instead for days 2 and 3. Overall I got so many compliments on my outfits so I think I put together some great looks that really felt on theme with festival season.
P. Claire Dodson, Assoc. Culture Director
My goal for Coachella was to stay relatively true to myself, but with a few more dynamic upgrades — and crucially, to remain as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. (And avoid the dreaded thigh chafe!!)
That meant leaning heavily on accessories to go with outfits I mostly already owned or had rented before. Since I was attending as part of a media trip with Pandora, I decked myself out in Pandora charm bracelets and necklaces and rocked a small pink Staud handbag with Pandora jewels as well. I brought my own rings, including a heart-shaped one with a fat woman etched on the front that always fills me with appreciation for my body and all that it can do. For sunglasses, I took a page from Hailey Bieber’s book and called in sunglasses from cool girl brand Otra, which has such sleek styles — I was nervous the Viv pair wouldn’t fit around my face, but no issues!
Day 1 is where it’s easiest to dress a little uncomfortably because the heat exhaustion hasn’t set in, so I paired some cowboy boots I picked up at Allen Boots in Austin with a blue and white Anthropologie babydoll dress I rented from Nuuly. The boots were mostly okay on a comfort level, though if you saw me in my bare feet for Lisa’s set, no you didn’t.
The clothing rental service Nuuly was clutch for building Coachella outfits, allowing me to be a bit more experimental without buying a bunch of clothes I’ll never wear again. Nuuly isn’t perfect — clothing rentals help with single-use wastefulness but also contribute to the idea we need to be wearing new outfits out all the time — but it has a great plus size range (way better than Rent the Runway, in my opinion). I also like that the company collaborates with designers who don’t normally carry plus sizes to help extend their size ranges. Also from Nuuly I pulled a Rachel Antonoff floaty mini-dress for day 2 which I felt so beautiful and balletcore in — paired with my trusty blue Spezials as we trekked through the dust to Camp Poosh before the festival.
In between the festival and assorted parties, I hung out at the Pandora Charm House, playing pickleball and tennis in a Wray tank I thrifted from Berriez and matching orange Salomon XT-Whisper. By the pool, I wore two swimsuits from TA3, which has become my go-to brand for plus size swimwear — I love the pinup girl cuts and stretchiness of the cinch-waist mechanism — and a What Lo Wants minidress as a cover up. My go-to thigh chafe solution is the Monistat powder gel; always keep three or four on hand and apply regularly.
By Sunday, I was back to regular Claire, attending the festival in a black pleated skirt I’ve been wearing for over a decade and a simple black halter top, Doc Marten platforms on and ready to stand for hours for one last day in the sun.
