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A woman wearing pink stands in front of a pink painted building in New Orleans. Photos: Whitney Mitchell

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New Orleans Style

A visual meditation on style and color in the Crescent City.

By Whitney Mitchell

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

New Orleans style is the flamboyance of Diana Ross mixed with the bohemian, whimsical ‘90s air of Fiona Apple.

There are direct connections between place, space, feeling, and the dressed expression of the people that live here. This is a city of color, a frenzy of blunt lines and cracked beam structures that inspire chance and challenge toward fashion trends.

New Orleans style takes costuming by the balls and creative-couture-David-Bowie-spandex-outfits by storm.

There is always a party here, always an opportunity to allow sequins to dazzle the moments between jazz notes and Bourbon Street laughter. There are always opportunities to allow chiffon tops and denim pants to form a regal pairing for a crawfish boil.

New Orleans style will never surprise you.

But it will inspire you to try what you haven’t under the smiles and support of other bayou risk-takers.

A fashionable woman walks by a construction worker against a painted brick wall.
A woman in a red dress strikes a pose against a blue and green house.
A pedi-cab bike parked in the French Quarter.
A woman dancing in front of colorful doors and window shutters in the French Quarter.
A red house with green painted accents and an American flag.
A red car on a quaint street in the French Quarter.
A chef on a break crouches by green shutters.
A salmon pink wall in New Orleans.
A wearing blue jeans rests her feet in blue shoes against a tan and orange painted building.
A blue house with yellow shutters and big green leafy plants.
A woman in a flowing dress at the corner of an old house, half-painted.
A woman wearing a hat in pink and orange against and orange stucco wall, near a lamp post.

For more on fashion and shopping in New Orleans, see our guide »

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