What Outfits Did People Wear At Woodstock?

In August of 1969, hippies from all over flocked to Max Yasgur’s 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York for the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, a festival described as “three days of peace and music.” Musical acts like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, and Santana rocked the stage. Drugs and booze were free-flowing, and attendees expressed themselves sexually without a care in the world.

From August 15-18, more than 400,000 free-spirited youths showed up in all sorts of outfits that ranged from loose and comfortable to outrageous and mind-boggling. The flower-power spirit that valued freedom, peace, love, and openness had reached its height, and clothing (or the lack of it) was an important form of self-expression. 

Half a century later, the fashion choices of those in attendance have not been forgotten. While a full-on Woodstock hippie outfit might only be seen during themed costume parties nowadays, certain aspects of it are still very much in vogue today.

Let’s take a look at some of the outfits that were worn by festival-goers in the summer of ‘69.

The sight of a young man with flowers adorning his hair, or wearing a piece of fabric that looks like a dress, would have been unthinkable before the 1960s. Back then, long hair on men was both feminine and wrong by many. But those long-haired young men at Woodstock simply didn’t care. All it took to solve the problem of hair getting on a young man’s face was a pastel-colored or lacy headband. Their masculinity wasn’t brought into question – everyone was there to enjoy the music and express themselves freely, and that was all that mattered.

Woodstock, it seems, was a clothing-optional event, with many people showing up wearing next to nothing (or in many cases, nothing at all). For women, the lack of bras and shirts to cover themselves had a deeper and more symbolic meaning. Proponents of gender equality and the women’s liberation movement thought that if men could take their shirts off when the weather was hot, then women should be able to do the same. Thousands of young hippie women at Woodstock agreed and proudly showed off their bodies.

The hippie movement was all about peace, harmony, and acceptance, so it comes as no surprise that people showed up in clothing inspired by other cultures. The whole debate surrounding the idea of cultural appropriation didn’t even exist yet, and people were free to “appropriate” cultures as they wished. Some even took some pieces of ethnic clothing and mixed them with others, like wearing an Indian tunic together with a South American poncho. It was strange, but it worked!

One did not need to spend a lot of money to put together the perfect Woodstock outfit. All some people needed to make a colorful statement was a plain white t-shirt, some rubber bands, a vat of RIT dye, and a bit of creativity. Once the tie-dying process was complete, men and women showed off their works of art in different ways. Some favored oversized tunics while others opted for tiny crop tops.

The hippie movement emphasized shock value, breaking traditions and opening the way for individuals to find their own voice. This manifested itself in the way people dressed. Activists who were accused by their elders of burning the American flag wore pants and jackets that bore the familiar red, white, and blue pattern. Anti-war activists, meanwhile, sported army jackets or wore peace symbol necklaces or shirts with the sign emblazoned on them.

In the 1960s, people began to embrace the idea of wearing secondhand clothes. Before heading off to Woodstock, a visit to a thrift store for discounted treasures that cost $3 (or even less) was necessary. Others, meanwhile, preferred to raid their parents’ or grandparents’ closets or attics for blouses, trousers, pieces of jewelry, and other unique vintage items.