Festival fashion: the good, the bad and the garlicky

Our very own Garlic Fashion Police Officer – known to some as “Sergeant Garlic” – wandered the festival grounds Saturday and Sunday to bring you a compilation of the weekend’s most memorable duds. Enjoy.
The Good
There is a certain Garlic Festival type that we want to applaud: the prepared. These festival-goers are pros when it comes to dressing for an all-day affair of eating, drinking, dancing and shopping at Christmas Hill Park. Temperatures in the upper 80s graced the Garlic Festival this weekend, but even with the relatively mild weather, the park (especially the less shaded Ranch Side) gets hot in the afternoon. On Saturday, sweating crowds of garlic-breathed folks fought for a few inches of space under a small tent outfitted with misters just to escape the heat for a few moments. Others moped around the park, face and shoulders red as a cherry from too much sun exposure.
Meanwhile, Gilroy resident Michelle Rodriguez boogied the afternoon away on the dance floor below the amphitheater stage with her husband, a massive smile on her face. Rodriguez, who described her age as “over 40”, wore a tight, neon green tank top, short denim shorts, tennis shoes and a straw sunhat festooned with real garlic bulbs.
“It’s all about the comfy shoes, the short shorts and the sunblock,” Rodriguez shouted over the loud rock music coming from the stage. “And bright colors so my husband can find me at any time.”
Sergeant Garlic gave Rodriguez the “best dressed” award for the 35^th annual Garlic Festival. She looked great, stood out, wore a touch of something garlicky and stayed cool and comfortable all day – Garlic Festival fashion at its best.
Another best dressed nod goes to Laura Cantu, 22 of Davis. The petite UC Davis student looked adorable in a blue and orange sundress, sandals and a facepaint design around her right eye that perfectly matched the hues in her outfit.
“It’s going to be a million degrees out and dresses are more comfortable in the heat,” Cantu said as she waited in line for a combo plate at Gourmet Alley. As for the festive art on her face, she said she went into a booth and asked for a design to match her dress.
Sergeant Garlic liked Cantu’s dress, because it kept her cool while retaining a feminine look, and we loved her idea to get her face painted to match her outfit.
Also in good fashion, Sergeant Garlic got a kick out of Dan Hunt’s wacky shirt. Hunt, 54 of Dublin, wore a tank top with repeated images of hot dogs, corn dogs and dachshunds (or “wiener dogs”) as he kicked back to folksy music at the Gazebo stage in the shade. Sergeant Garlic found the shirt unique and hilarious, a great choice for festival wear. 
The Bad
Sergeant Garlic found much festival attire (or lack thereof) to be tawdry, crude and impractical.
Morgan Hill resident Dustin Wynne, 24, wandered the park shirtless. While Sergeant Garlic appreciated Wynne’s pectoral muscles, the look was not appropriate for a family-friendly festival. Nor was Wynne’s cavalier attitude.
“I’m getting a lot of whistles today,” he said. “A lot of attention comes my way when I’m out and about, shirt on or shirt off.”
Some attendees accepted the mantra, “the less clothes the better” to beat the heat, and sported bare midriffs, see-through tops and other revealing wardrobe items. Others, it seemed, did not check the weather before heading to Gilroy, and buried themselves under long-sleeved button down shirts and too-tight jeans. These people appeared most sweaty and miserable.
Victor Cai, 25 of Oxnard, wore a white long-sleeved shirt, Jack Skellington suspenders and bright blue slacks. He insisted he was staying cool, but Sergeant Garlic finds that hard to believe.
Also, ladies – why the high heels?
San Jose resident Kiran Boparai, 25, wore four-inch strappy wedge heels and a long sundress. Boparai said she almost went to the car to grab a pair of flats after first entering the park, but she’s since “gotten used to it” and seemed to be hobbling around Gourmet Alley OK. Still, we think flat shoes would have been a better choice.
The Garlicky
Sergeant Garlic thinks you can’t wear too many garlic adornments at this festival. The hundreds of garlic bulb hats and bonnets were fun to see, as were the vintage shirts from Garlic Festivals of past decades.
Brenda Morris of Pismo beach wore a “Garlic Wars: Attack of the Cloves” shirt that she found at a thrift store in Big Bear for 50 cents three years ago.
“It’s my go-to shirt every time I come to Gilroy now,” Morris said, laughing. “I had to get it. I saw it there and was like, ‘are you kidding me? I know that place.’”
Kevin Christopher and his friend, Jonathan Kakacec brought hipster flair to their garlicky look. Christopher, the 28-year-old grandson of festival founder Don Christopher, wore his garlic bulb hat far back on his head, making it look a bit like a French painter’s hat. Kakacec, 32 of Oakland, wore a shirt with an “artisan” hand-painted garlic bulb design on the front. The two sat on hay bales eating pepper steak sandwiches in the shade. Sergeant Garlic enjoyed their sense of ironic garlic fashion.
More updates to come. Did you or your friends make a fashion statement at the Gilroy Garlic Festival? Email us at

ed****@ga****.com











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