What to Wear to Día de Muertos in Los Angeles

Packing philosophy

Dress for twelve hours and a temperature drop. Hollywood Forever runs its Día de los Muertos from noon to midnight, and NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for LAX give October 23.6°C by day and 15.4°C at night, the widest gap between afternoon and night in the Los Angeles year. The altars are spread across the cemetery lawns, so the day is spent standing and walking on grass. Start in a dark floral midi with sleeves, add a cardigan when the sun goes just after six, and wear flats. Face paint and flower crowns are welcome here; the organisers encourage attire in the spirit of the day.

What the dress code actually is

Hollywood Forever encourages guests to come in Día de los Muertos attire, and face painting is part of the day; this is the most open, public version of the celebration in the city. The line is at the altars. Each one is built by a family or a community for its own dead, and the rules are the ones UNESCO's description of the Mexican festivity implies: look, don't touch, don't lean in for a selfie, and ask before photographing a person at their altar. If you paint a Catrina, know what she is: José Guadalupe Posada's Calavera Garbancera, a satire of people who dressed as Europeans, whom Diego Rivera named and painted into his 1947 Alameda mural, now kept by INBA. The night itself is not Halloween, even a week before it. Skip the costume-shop skeleton and dress as a guest at a remembrance that happens to have a band.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Ink floral tiered midi dress, long sleeves, smocked cuffs

   An ink-dark ground with cream flowers reads as the evening register of the day without looking like a costume. Long sleeves cover your arms through a noon arrival in 23.6°C sun, and the tiered skirt moves when you sit on the grass by the stage. Push the smocked cuffs up in the afternoon and let them down after dark.

2. 
   02

   Saffron cotton V-neck cardigan, hip length

   NOAA's LAX normal falls from 23.6°C to 15.4°C across the day, the largest drop of the Los Angeles year, and you are there for both ends. A cotton cardigan buttons over the dress at sunset and ties around the waist at noon. Saffron is the marigold of the altars, worn as a layer rather than a costume.

3. 
   03

   Aubergine crepe wide-leg trousers, high waist

   Wear these instead of the dress if you plan to sit on the grass for hours. A fluid wide leg stays cool at 24°C / 75°F and covers your ankles at midnight, and aubergine and saffron are the two colours of the capsule that read as the festival without a single skull. Wear them with a plain dark top.

4. 
   04

   Red patent Mary Jane flats, buckle strap

   The altars are spread across the cemetery lawns, and a heel of any height sinks into them. A flat with a buckled strap stays on through twelve hours of walking and standing. Red takes the roses of the flower crown down to your feet, and patent wipes clean of grass at the end of the night.

5. 
   05

   Silk marigold and red rose half-crown

   Hollywood Forever encourages Día de los Muertos attire, and a crown of marigolds, the cempasúchil that guides the dead home, is the part of it most visitors can wear without paint. A half-crown on a thin band sits behind the hairline and stays on in a crowd. Silk rather than fresh flowers lasts until midnight.

6. 
   06

   Small cream leather zip crossbody, tan strap

   No outside food or drink comes in, and some vendors take only cash, so you need a phone, a card and notes on you and nothing else. A small zip crossbody keeps both hands free for food and a candle, and sits in front of you in the crowd at the stage. Cream lightens a dark dress after sunset.

7. 
   07

   Men's white linen guayabera, four pockets

   For men on a 24°C / 75°F afternoon: loose linen with the pintucked panels and four pockets that make it dress-up rather than beachwear across Mexico and the Caribbean. Wear it untucked over dark trousers, and add a dark knit over it once the night falls to 15°C / 59°F.

A suggested look — ink floral tiered midi dress, saffron cotton cardigan, marigold and red rose flower crown, red patent mary jane flats.

What to avoid

• Heels on cemetery lawns — flats for a twelve-hour day
• Touching or leaning on altars — look, and ask before photographing people
• No layer — nights fall to 15°C / 59°F
• Outside food or drink — not allowed in
• A Halloween skeleton costume — this is a remembrance, not a party