With so many music festivals coming up, the one thing on your mind is probably which one to go to (if any) and of course what to wear. They’re the best time to break out your short shorts, light fabrics and wide brim hats for a solar-protective chic look. Looking back at past music festivals, like Woodstock, you’ll quickly realize how much festival fashion has evolved. A peek into the original Woodstock reveals a crowd of carefree folk in multi-patterned fabrics, muddy skin and bare feet. Others wore triangle tops, the latest in denim or nothing at all! Whatever the case, they collectively gathered to promote a free and peaceful environment through soulful music. If there is one person who embodied everything soulful and emotional, it’s iconic Janis Joplin, Queen of Rock and Roll.
“She goes barefooted when she feels like it, wears Levi’s to class because they’re more comfortable, and carries her Autoharp with her everywhere she goes so that in case she gets the urge to break into song it will be handy.” Headlining Woodstock was the least expected thing her classmates could anticipate. Janis was born in Port Arthur, Texas (1943) where she was often criticized for her appearance. She was “geeky, freaky and creepy” to her high school companions but often, Janis stated she was simply a misfit — always seeking attention through her paintings or causing trouble in small ways. At age 17, she began singing to her favorite blues and folk singers: Lead Belly, Billie Holiday and Odetta to name a few. To her surprise, she could sing! Soon this newly discovered talent would make her pursue her passions in San Francisco at age 20 after dropping out of college. After heavy drug and alcohol use in California, her friends urged her to go back to Port Arthur, but her talents led her once again back to San Francisco as she joined renowned psychedelic rock band Big Brother and The Holding Company.
With the band, she toured across the nation and into Canada. She slowly became well known for her electric stage presence, captivating vocals and of course, unique sense of fashion. Many even started calling the band “Janis Joplin, Big Brother and The Holding Company.” After three years of being in the band, Janis decided it was time to focus on herself by branching out into other projects. She formed a new group, Kozmic Blues Band, which rose her to fame. She appeared on the Dick Cavett show on several occasions, where she got down and gritty, defined her tough rock and roll meets hippie look (although she never referred to herself as a hippie) and captured the hearts of viewers with her sense of humor and quirky laugh.
After headlining Woodstock shortly after, her appearances further developed with bigger artists like Tina Turner, Johnny Winter and Paul Butterfield at Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, her parents remained distant and her drug usage increased. Her performances were described as “so drunk, so stoned, so out of control, that she could have been an institutionalized psychotic rent by mania.” After forming a new band, the Full Tilt Boogie Band which she claimed as her own, her image cleaned up with more colorful ensembles of embellished pants, fringe vests and multi-colored feather boas in her flamboyant hair. Her carefree attitude translated through her fun, floaty clothing, big glasses and eccentric jewelry despite a life of suffering and dissatisfaction.
Today, she is remembered for her iconic Woodstock look that changed women’s fashion forever. She broke the societal mold of what women should be and dress like, promoting the fact that soulful and down-to-earth passions are perfectly acceptable for women to pursue, especially in the rock music industry. Her connection between her audience has influenced countless artists like Stevie Nicks, who has personally commented on how much she changed her life, and Florence Welch, who has commented on how Joplin’s suffering and intensity has affected the way she performs soulfully. Other major artists like Serge Gainsbourg, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen and The Mamas & The Papas have also made a reference to Joplin in their music. Aside from music and fashion, Joplin is accredited to being one of the first in popular culture to promote the acceptance of tattoos as body art. After her death in 1970 at age 27, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and her legacy lives on as a true Queen.
Watch a full performance and interview on the very funny Dick Cavett Show here.