PHOTOS & STORY BY TATYANA KUREPINA
Seattleites brought out the best and boldest pieces of their wardrobes this weekend as a bright lineup of musicians took the stage at the 25th Capitol Hill Block Party.
Crowds packed between Pike and Pine throughout the three-day festival to witness some of
their favorite artists perform in person. With sound systems blaring, concertgoers too turned up the volume on what they were wearing.
“The Barbie movie just came out, and I was going for ‘Groovy Barbie,’” said Louise Saraspe.
“Really throwing back to the ’60s – bright colors, platform heels, bringing out the girly side of
summer, really embracing ‘flower power,’ just embracing the sun and all the good weather.”
“We are going with a full banana chic. You know, we want to capture that festival energy today,” said Paul Chen, describing his vibrant yellow button down shirt accompanied by matching shorts.
A common thread between many fashion-forward fans at the festival – a belief that you don’t
have to break the bank to stand out.
“It’s really about feeling confident, so whatever I have, I just try to work with it, repurposing and upcycling everything we have,” Esmeralda Peña said. “Whatever little thing we can do to help Mother Earth.”
While the promise of being dazzled by headliners like Denzel Curry and Louis The Child may be the festival’s main draw, attendees say CHPB creates a space where transcending the
conventional norms of personal style is welcome.
“I have spent my entire life trying not to be seen, and now I want to be seen, so it feels good for
me to get that attention,” Colin Pringle shared.
“It keeps the conversation going,” said Rita LaRue. “We all come from different walks of life, and I think fashion has a way of speaking for a person’s story – what they stand for.”
In the following portraits of concertgoers, we asked CHBP attendees to share why expression through fashion is important. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
“I’m really into expressing my personality through clothes, and just like telling a story as I’m walking down the street, not even saying a word, and just like telling people who you are with what you’re wearing, and putting on like different personalities and embracing certain aspects of yourself. We’re all very multifaceted.” -Louise Saraspe
“You gotta love yourself, honestly. I think fashion expresses who you are. You just gotta embrace it.” -Carolyna Shen
“I feel like it’s just really an expression of self. A little bit tied in with your identity, like inside and out.” -Paul Shen
“I feel like it makes me feel really good, happy and confident. Being around my friends, I feel like it’s really important to express myself because I feel like we just feed off each other’s energy. I feel like we’re just expanding that energy kind of trying to get everybody to like and also express themselves and like feel comfortable doing this.” – Zen Cruz
“Our clothes are part of our identity and part of how we present ourselves. I mean, I spend most days in Carhartt jeans and flannels, working on the side of the road and you know that is a vibe. If I was in the office, I’d be wearing something that matches that scene. This is the scene, it’s part of the culture” – Seth Way
“It’s giving places to be without a place to be. Typical kind of Saturday moment for me. It turns heads, you know?” -Rita LaRue
“I grew up in a very conservative, traditional family, so I feel like these festivals or just like life in general, and being out of college now has allowed me to dress however I want and to truly express myself versus when I was so confined.” -Jojo Yen
“The name shirt, but also the friendship bracelets, because we put really silly stuff on them. It’s fun and we made them for each other.” – Emmy Corliss
“You know what, it’s just like our tattoos, it’s an expression of ourselves, right? So it lets you
know how you are inside or how you’re feeling inside and it gives you this outward experience of
this person. It’s like the front cover of a book, you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover,
but it gives you a pretty good tell about what it’s about, how they’re feeling, what they’re
looking like, and what they’re gonna be doing.” – Lamont Allen
“I think it’s important to express ourselves through fashion because I feel like when we’re comfortable with ourselves and we’re comfortable showing who we are on the outside, we’re able to feel more situated on the inside. And I feel like accepting who people are and how they express themselves is really important in building community and I think community is a better way to strengthen society.” -Shänti Rose-Birch
