Since I just returned from the Black Rock desert, and Burn­ing Man is com­ing up…
I thought I’d share a few of my style tips and tricks for rock­ing out in the desert.

Boots.

I can­not stress enough that boots are your friend in the desert. Sandy feet are nice at the beach, but in Black Rock…the dust is alkali and enough expo­sure will give you a chem­i­cal burn (see also, playa foot).

I also sug­gest some sim­ple shoes to throw on when you need to get from your tent to some­where else in a hurry, as boots do take a bit of work to get on unless they’re of the handy zip­pered variety. 

Hats.

Another thing you may want is a hat to keep your face shaded from the bru­tal sun!
Some­thing absurd is best, but remem­ber that func­tion should come first.
I got this rad vin­tage one from Clothes Con­tact.

Hair.

While we’re talk­ing about hats, let’s talk about hair.
The dust gets into every­thing, and it espe­cially likes to stick in your hair.
If you have hair, like many humans, you will have dread­locks after about 4 days.
If you have fine hair, like me, you will have dread­locks after about 1 day.

To solve this prob­lem, I rec­om­mend bring­ing a bot­tle of detan­gler and a wide toothed comb.
I have a rit­ual in the morn­ing, where I spray my whole head and comb it out.
This serves sev­eral pur­poses…
1) It is extra hot in your tent at the start of the day, so spray­ing your head down is really refresh­ing.
2 ) There are no show­ers in the desert. Most detan­glers are scented, and they will make your hair smell like civ­i­liza­tion! I will say, how­ever, that if you want to get in touch with your inner hip­pie, this is the place to do it. 

Para­sol

In the past, I have scoffed at the para­sol. For shame!
That all changed when I met Fishbrella.

When I saw him all lonely in the thrift store, I knew just what to do with him!
Fish­brella saved me (along with my hat, and his pal, Mr. Sun­screen) from the white hot pas­sion of the desert sun. 

I would be full of burn­ing if not for him. Thanks, Fishbrella!

Clothes

Dur­ing the day, one should wear some­thing light­weight and breath­able, such as this match­ing tank top and skirt combo from h&m.
Nat­ural fibers are ideal. Any­thing that might make you sweaty is a bad idea, and should be saved for night­time wear. 

& there you have it. 

This is by no means a com­pre­hen­sive list of what to bring to the playa, but rather, doc­u­men­ta­tion of how I tackle some of it’s challenges. 

If you are look­ing for a list of that nature, look at my friend MaryBee’s guide on the sub­ject. (via Gal­adar­ling).