bindi promo pic

Festival fashion 2014 // Bindis are the new flower crowns, according to Coachella

So if Vanessa Hudgens is anything to go by, we’ll all be wearing bindis and embellished kaftans to festivals in 2014.

2013’s fascination with flower crowns now looks decidedly droopy, and instead, Coachella festival-goers are looking to the Far East for ‘far out (maaaan)’ fashion inspiration.

And you’ll be au fait with the stick-on bindi if, like us, you were an angsty teen in the 90s. Thanks to the likes of Gwen Stefani, Alisha’s Attic and er, Kula Shaker, we hot-footed it to Camden Market and snapped up packs of the little glittering gems by the bucket-load.

Gwen Stefani bindi

Now we are older (meh) and wiser (nope), we’re more aware of the cultural significance of the bindi – 1) that it has one (we thought it was just a bit of sparkly fashion fun 2) it’s actually an auspicious religious and spiritual symbol, and shouldn’t reaaaally be used “as a fashion accessory aiming at mercantile greed,” (according to Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, following selena Gomez’s appropriation of a bindi last year at the MTV Movie Awards). Oh.

Selena Gomez bindi at MTV Movie Awards

But that didn’t stop Selena from wearing a bindi at this year’s Coachella, HELLZ no (#LAD), which she accessorised with a couple of Jenner sisters:

bindi promo pic

Speaking of the Jenners, Kendall did a gothic take on the bindi for the start of Coachella:

But worked her way up into a full-on, Bollywood-isnpired (FAKE) nose ring and ear chain:

Sure. But beware, bindi fans; if you’ve got your (third) eye on a bit of forehead bling, there are potential pitfalls to this festival trend:

1) Pesky bindi marks – be it desert dust at Coachella or pure muddy shit at Glasto (perhaps sunburn if you’re lucky), you’ll be left with a bindi-shaped outline on your forehead, so choose size/shape wisely…

2) Be aware that you’re essentially using a religious icon as a fashion accessory and that it may offend some people. I mean, I’m Catholic and have no problem with the crucifix being sold as a man-necklace in Topman (or whatever), but Hudgens is getting a shit tonne of grief for her apparent cultural appropraition (which she has since fuelled further by wearing a giant Native Indian headdress, heh).

 

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