4-20-2025 MY INSPO: neotribalism - from festivals to tattoos

 while sib was heavily dodging the coachella influencer fits and performances, i have to claim of being a victim of the festival culture (mind you the only music festival i ever attended is vlajternativa when i'm in town). 

the first time i heard of coachella was in 2011-12 when one direction imagines (aka pov's). i had to do a deep dive on what coachella meant, while reading imagine, you and harry at coachella (with an appropriate chevron outfit crafted in polyvore) and the fans start to recognize him...

coachella definitely did something to my brain, and i mimicked the fashion of festival culture, including tribal prints (called aztec prints at the time?), flower crowns, studs and everything 2010 boho chic. growing up with boomer parents, i had vast knowledge of woodstock, alongside with the belief that i was born in the wrong century. so coachella brought me comfort that i too can be in a very hot and uncomfortable crowded place, waiting longer for the line in the bathroom than actually listening to the bands. yet, i would love to go one day. this old scar was scratched open after seeing photos and clips of the gagachella performance. and i thought, appropriately so, why not review some fits of the olden days of coachella, prior to influencers stinking up the pit with their abhorrent fashions of late stage capitalism?

the culture of the early 2010s and late 00s is  what inspired me to do this blog in the first place, the times where one organically developed their style, wasn't worried about that "all the it girls are wearing this spring", etc. so let's revisit some looks i enjoyed (including one or two honorable mentions of the recent years).

 

starting off with a gagachella 2025 moment, laying with the skeletons (of her past "eras"? per internet analysis) during her performance.

alicia silverstone and husband christopher jarecki, 2008. wearing a tunic that looks like a part of a croatian traditional nošnja. simple, could be white ethnic culture, love the pockets. the dude looks interesting. i think the same year she brought her toddler with her to coachella which sparked a lot of controversy. keep the kids cultured, right?

amy winehouse in 2007. i read an article that the micro-shorts were back this year, so let's remember how the og's did it. amy's super cool and messy beehive hair, a strapless bra top, could be bikini top. micro-shorts and her signature flats that used to be white.

rihanna went viral for rolling a joint on top of her bodyguard's head at coachella in 2012. she wore a perfect 2012 look: patterned wayfarer sunglasses (i can't be the only one that kept buying various wayfarers with different patterns), a necklace almost bulky enough to be considered statement, bomber jacket, a statement crop top and denim shorts with studs.

here's another 2025 mention, senator bernie sanders in front of the misfits wall. he had a speech about the current political state of our country, as part of his fight oligarchy tour across the states. it's harder and harder to live in our society and ignore the current politics, because these issues have bled into all of our lives. this wasn't the only political message during coachella, as bands like amyl and the sniffers shared their sympathy and encouragement for the youth to continue fighting for their rights and against the israeli genocide in palestine, and green day - billy joe armstrong changing his lyrics in protest against the genocide in palestine and criticism against trump.

let's go back in time when we could frolic across the desert, hand in hand with no care in the world. azaelia banks and florence welch in 2012. 212 by azaelia banks came out that year, and never let me go by florence + the machine just a year prior, and they were artists to look out for at the time. both their looks resonate with their musical aesthetic, and i simply love everything about this photo. 

another sign of the times, solange in 2010 with bright lipstick, cat eye sunglasses and a clash of patterns. crop tops like this one need to come back.

it would be a sin not to mention the queen of coachella vanessa hudgens, and austin butler who didn't seem as weird as he does now. this was in 2014 and we got the floppy hat, the slouchy backpack with earthy patterns, a whole tribal mini dress? and a peek of over the knee socks. austin is charming us with a perfect nip slip.

last but not least, liam gallagher in 2002. performed then, then 21 years later, calls coachella pathetic. like, sure. look at those bangs though!

what would i wear to coachella? i often ask myself. let me manifest getting there, then i can let the creative juices flow. 

cybersigilism: a recession indicator?

sib sent an old photo of us with our aunt from 2008 - barely a year in croatia, summertime, and our hairs - chopped, but that's not the point. this was potentially peak recession era, and yet we were wearing matching tank tops with those symbols you see as someone's tramp stamp: a symbol so abstract it almost feels like rorschach spiderwebs. 

we both commented about how we had forgotten about these tank tops, and joked about how funny it would be to have sister tramp stamps (i have a phobia of needles and sib hates permanent blemishes on her body - here i am diagnosing her with ocd).

then sib suggested i try and recreate these tops so we have handmade ones this time at our big girl age. i love doodling these sigils in my work notebook quite frequently. i began scouring through pinterest to find some patterns as inspiration and found ideas for nail designs along the way.  

what is this cybersigilism? i wanted to go into a deep dive on the history of these abstract symbols, that we usually resonate with y2k trashy tops, but they're coming back, as do many trends do. no trend is left behind.

i used the article from 032c as a useful tool in my research. here's what i found about the symbolism and history of cybersigilism as an artistic, fashion, and tattoo trend.

according to dr. kimberly baltzer-jay, she would define the trend as "situated in their experience of living in an ever-growing cyber reality and surviving in a rather bleak world of economic hardship, war, and destructive climate change. and yet, they have a desire to find meaning and connection with something greater than themselves and express it on their flesh. it is interesting to think that the more digitally connected we have become the more untethered and isolated many people feel. sometimes, this explains interest in ancient symbols, spirituality, and old art practices."

amsterdam tattoo artist giuliano bolivar says this about cybersigilism: "when I noticed everyone getting this type of tattoo, i said right away: this is not going to age well! in my mind, it’s very linked to subculture and club culture. it’s very techno, it’s very rave."

berlin tattoo artist jumi su describes berlin club culture as the "mecca of this trend": "berlin is the perfect ecosystem for it. the city thrives on tension—between tradition and experimentation, rawness and refinement, the underground and the mainstream. this aesthetic fits into that narrative seamlessly. that said, it’s not just berlin. cities like amsterdam, copenhagen, kyiv, new york, and la, to name a few, are pushing these ideas forward in their own ways." to jumi su, cybersigilism means "it speaks to the collision of mysticism and technology, a kind of visual alchemy for the digital age."

cassidy george, the article's author, states "most artists whose work is affiliated with the term either never did or no longer identify with it. this is likely due to the newfound, trendy connotations with the word, but also because most artists don't want to be stylistically pigeon-holed—the same way that many of the musicians associated with genres like punk, emo, and hyperpop have rejected (and resented) the terms projected onto them by others."