According to Angelenos, the actual uniform of Los Angeles

Los Angeles is equal parts gritty and glamorous in Western mythology. The reality is not too far away: feet away from gray freeways congested with 24-hour traffic are flowers of impossibly pink bougainvillea. At a stoplight, glance to the left to observe a bored Uber driver cruising the area in search of passengers, or a young celebrity exiting her neighborhood coffee shop in secrecy while sporting sunglasses.

Perhaps not surprisingly for a city that is mostly known for its entertainment industry, the Hollywood sign, palm palms, beaches, lowriders, Art Deco architecture, and street sellers are some of the images that define Los Angeles. Those images can represent an individual’s personal aesthetic for Angelenos themselves. A Lakers jersey, or a Fred Segal shirt? Nike Cortezes shining.

The New York Times asked West Coasters to provide their thoughts on the ideal Los Angeles uniform ahead of this Wednesday through Sunday’s L.A. Fashion Week.
Though her 818 area code has entered the chat, Bethany Cosentino is not a valley girl in the eyes of many Los Angeles locals. Although the name of the band, Best Coast, is a declaration of West Coast supremacy, Ms. Cosentino, a singer-songwriter best known for her work in the indie rock duo, really hails from La Crescenta, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County that borders Glendale, where she currently resides.

From the leather of her early rocker-chick days to a looser aesthetic full of linens and lacelike textiles, Ms. Cosentino’s style has changed.

Her mother bought her a Joni Mitchell blazer for her 25th birthday in 1976, and a 1970s Linda Ronstadt T-shirt is one of her favorite items in her closet.

She added that she gets the majority of her clothes from thrift stores and that she has been shopping at Squaresville, a vintage boutique in Los Feliz, since she was sixteen. She also occasionally treks through the valley for thirty to forty minutes to visit the closest Savers thrift store.

According to Ms. Cosentino, “I usually look for long skirts that I can wear with a loose-fitting crop top when I thrift.” The softest vintage cotton T-shirt is what I’m searching for.
Gustavo Dudamel, the creative and musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is likely the person you’ve seen dressed for the most glamorous of what he called “the different seasons of music making” if you’ve ever witnessed a live outdoor orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl on a July evening.

He sent an email saying, “There’s nothing that makes me feel more like summer than performing live at the Hollywood Bowl in our iconic open-air home, sharing music with thousands of Angelenos every night while wearing my white suit and black bow tie.”