Most festivals, but Coachella in particular, are now selling way more than just music. Sure, you may be one of the 10 people who “just care about the bands,” but these events have started to promote little slices of a certain lifestyle. First, la vie celebrity: Stars have been imperative in helping whip up the commercial possibility. Kendall Jenner wears $2,500 studded Saint Laurent booties to the Sahara Tent; the next day, all anyone wants to talk about (or buy) are studded booties. And if you can’t quite afford the Saint Laurent version, luckily every brand is able to quickly create a shockingly similar pair. Now you feel cool like Kendall. The funny thing about Coachella, though, is that it’s in the middle of the desert, usually about 97 degrees, and comes with a high probability of a dust storm. Now let’s soak in the fact that somehow we’ve gotten to a place where we feel the need to spend hundreds of dollars on outfits to go sweat in the dirt. Exactly.

Secondly, there's the whole modern-day Woodstock thing. Let’s really break this down: At the most basic level, I understand the connection. Music + Outdoor Venue = Hippie Vibes. Understood. However, the irony comes into play when we take an honest look at what Coachella has become. Some questions: Do hippies spend a ridiculous amount of money on clothes? Do they gawk at celebrities? Do they take 100 Instagrams wearing plastic flower crowns and an absurd amount of white crochet? The whole birth of this movement came from wanting to be different. But now, more than ever, everyone looks exactly the same.

The aesthetic that has come to rule Coachella, on top of being expensive and sort of phony, is just plain overdone. Even if you disagree with the aforementioned points, it’s clear to see that the style is completely saturated. I felt cool in my simple outfit because everyone else was decked in predictable fringe. When Kate Moss wore a gold minidress and Wellington boots to Glastonbury 10 years ago, it was completely epic because no one had ever done it before. When Sienna Miller wore neon yellow sunglasses and a huge studded hippie belt, it was awesome because it was new. Now the whole look is just stale. Flower crowns? For a festival? Come on.