A Burning Man Mood Board: How to Do the Desert Festival With Style

Every summer a city pops up on the playa in Nevada.  For a few days, this temporary city serves as home to thousands of lovers of art, music and creativity.  Attendees of this annual event use the occasion to express themselves through what they wear (and sometimes what they don’t wear).  We have created this Burning Man mood board to help you do this year’s desert festival in style.

 

A Burning Man Mood Board: How to Do the Desert Festival With Style

 

The Theme

 

A Burning Man Mood Board: How to Do the Desert Festival With Style
Photo courtesy of Burning Man

 

Each year’s festival is centered around a common theme.  The theme for Burning Man 2018 is I, Robot, reflecting the presence of artificial intelligence in modern culture.  Attendees can expect to see many art installations reflecting this year’s technological theme.  As we created this Burning Man mood board, we paired festival essentials with pieces that fit with the year’s theme.

Respiratory Mask

 

A Burning Man Mood Board: How to Do the Desert Festival With Style
Photo courtesy of Vogmask

 

If there is one constant from year to year at Burning Man, it’s the dust.  It takes place in the desert, and sand storms are not uncommon.  You really must include a high-quality (and stylish) respiratory mask when planning your Burning Man look.  We recommend a Vogmask Mass mask to add to your Burning Man outfit.  These masks protect from the ever-present dust of the playa.

 

VOGMASK is used for protection from airborne particles such as PM 0.3, PM 2.5, PM 10, dust, allergens, post combustion particles, germs, shavings, biologics, odors, scents, mold, mold spores, particles in wildfire smoke, volcanic particulate pollution, and other airborne contaminants. The benefits of particulate respirators are confirmed by leading health providers worldwide.

Goggles or Protective Eye Wear

 

A Burning Man Mood Board: How to Do the Desert Festival With Style
Photo courtesy of iDEM

 

While you are protecting your lungs from the playa’s particles, protect your eyes too.  You will frequently see Burners wearing some kind of goggles to protect their eyes.  These can range from steampunk style goggles to actual industrial eye wear.  To enhance your experience of this year’s theme, we love these trippy iEDM goggles.

 

These goggles feature our industry leading laser etched lenses with our Ultimate series effect. We’ve added a hard glass lens on the exterior for superior protection and clear view. Similar to steampunk, gothic, or welding goggles, these diffraction optics offer a revolutionary effect by blocking out all exterior light from your vision, letting in nothing but crisp, clean, bright diffraction!

Costume

 

A Burning Man Mood Board: How to Do the Desert Festival With Style
Photo courtesy of Dolls Kill

 

The sky is the limit with your Burning Man costume.  This is the time to leave your brand name wardrobe at home and pack your coolest, most outrageous costume.  Some Burners choose to go nearly-nude, but we don’t recommend going completely commando (remember the sand we talked about earlier?).  Play off the iRobot theme in a made-to-order holographic jumpsuit or a sexy chrome bodysuit.  This one from Dolls Kills comes with matching panties and adjustable garter belt details.

Closed-Toe Footwear

 

A Burning Man Mood Board: How to Do the Desert Festival With Style
Photo courtesy of Dolls Kill

 

While sandals in the desert made seem like a good idea, the alkaline dust will do a number on your feet.  We highly recommend sturdy footwear that is closed-toe.  While any utilitarian boots will function, these Cybertron platform boots with reflective panels and LED buckle straps will be showstoppers.

Hands-Free Bag

 

A Burning Man Mood Board: How to Do the Desert Festival With Style
Photo courtesy of Dolls Kill

 

Since you will be busy enjoying all the activities Burning Man has to offer, you will definitely not want to be loaded down with shoulder bags.  Backpacks and fanny packs are popular ways to keep the necessities on hand, while remaining hands-free.  We love this Electronic Dance backpack because the mult-colored light rows sync up with the music around you!

Headgear

 

A Burning Man Mood Board: How to Do the Desert Festival With Style
Photo courtesy of Divamp Couture

 

Protect your head from the hot sun and the desert dust with some kind of headgear.  This can be as simple as a wrap or bandanna or as elaborate as this chrome headpiece made out of mirrored PVC.

Want to see what Burning Man was like in year’s past?  Check out this post with Burning Man fashion from Eva LaRue.

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A Burning Man Mood Board: How to Do the Desert Festival With Style
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