RAINBOW GATHERING: Pungent and Dreads
Pungent and Dreads
Words by Char Easter. Photos by Cheryle Easter
The “F” in fashion for this story stands for festival. Every summer offers up a series of subcultural pow wows, where adventurous folk leave their day jobs, or crafters and seekers make it their day job, to gather without modern plumbing. They view art, hear music and above all, dress up. From the Oregon Country Fair to Burning Man to Beloved, each festival has its own brand of lunatic fringe fashion. One of the longest running is the Rainbow Gathering. So my sister and I borrowed her boyfriend’s 1971 pop top VW bus and headed deep into the Pinchot National Forest of Washington state to find the latest collection of free-spirited, back-to-nature wear. The question before us: what defines subcultural fashion in 2011 and has it changed from the first gathering in 1972? Our motto: cute matters; even in the woods.
For the surrounding towns of loggers and mill workers, it was an international invasion as 30,000 crunchy Rainbow Gathering goers stopped for supplies on their annual pilgrimage home to “the family.” One local from Cougar, a nearby town, described the scene as, “Pungent and dreads.” Perfect.
While hitching a ride from our parking spot along the 7 mile, car lined, narrow road to the main camp, we met Peter, a serial summer festivaler who was heading to the Oregon Country Fair after Rainbow. He likes the Rainbow Gathering because of its self-organization and anarchy (it’s all volunteer and free) and described the fashion as, “where punk and hippie intersect,” with a lot of Steampunk thrown in. Steampunk — a Road Warrior/Victorian mix — is a street savvy, survival look, straight out of a Charles Dickens book. It depicts a gritty, sci-fi/fantasy traveler who can survive the mud and dust and the amped-up fashion of a festival.
But the black leather of steampunk is balanced with a wild mash up of looks dominated by faery, hippy, and urban wood nymph. If in doubt with what to wear, make it colorful. The bright and bolder the better, with pink and stripes and crazy hats. Think Alice In Wonderland meets Lord of the Rings. This is no time to be subtle or elegant. Subculture festival fashion is getting in touch with your wild child.
Because the woods can be cold and there was snow in the camps, we saw lots of layers and wool with boldly striped mittens, arm coverings and zany leggings to brighten up the gray. But as the sun came out, the wool layers came off — just as my father predicted — and the body paint was manifest. The photos below are like a Rainbow Family photo album. Mini video to come. Keep the love.
Photo captions in slideshow:
Charlie and Daisy (mud girls) – When the sun shines, the wood nymphs appear. This was either Charlie or Daisy, who’s bright spirits and wild abandon put the festive in festival.
Juanita – shown in stripped mittens with hula hoop. We found her hula hooping on this large log chanting, “Safety Last”
Nikolas – the face and body paint and rainbow parasol were the crowning glory on this very put together, mythical, woods god
Steampunk boys in the meadow
Lovely Rainbow couple keeping the ’70s spirit alive with free flowing skirt and pants with a Genesha elephant scarf for accent
Emily – wearing a chain mesh bra she made herself
Stephanie – wearing suspenders to hick it up
Fairy on lily pad
Justin, John, Fred, Alicia and dachshund (not necessarily in L-R order) – summing up a collection of looks that equal Rainbow fashion
Quoted in article: Peter Apicella – “Where hippie and punk intersect.” He offers crafts, massage and astute festival philosophy. Find him at peteraguafire@hotmail.com
