Anchorage Daily News

A few days before I went fashion hunting at the Alaska State Fair, my friend Jessica confidently told me that dressing for the fair is like dressing for the supermarket.

"Honestly, who cares what you look like when you're stuffing your face with elephant ears," she said. "I'm just shopping for food at the fair anyway."

Maybe it was the corn dog or the cream puff or the funnel cake, but when I set out on the first fair weekend with fashion in my sights, my stomach felt a little heavy. Her words were echoing loudly in my head, and even the Charlie Daniels Band couldn't drown them out.

Is judging fair fashion really even fair? Who am I to say you should risk ruining fancy fabrics while gnawing on barbecue and twirling on the tilt-a-whirl?

Scratch that. When someone scuffed by me in a big ol' pair of chunky flip-flops, I decided all bets (except for the those I made on the rat race, of course, because those are for charity) were off.

One glance around the red trail, and we concluded that fair fashion is like a turn on the squirrel cages: Just get on the ride and hold on tight.

From clubbin' clothes to cowboy boots, bug-eyed sunglasses and drainpipe jeans to cockatiel-poufed bangs (a personal favorite of Jessica's, and she believes the bang pouf is much like the cabbage: "Go big or go home," she said.), fair-weather fashionistas were everywhere. So, if you're going on the last day, here's a guide on what to wear to fit in at the fair:

FAIR SKIN: There's a whole wardrobe between tacky and tasteful, and sometimes all you need is a shirt. Or not. Join the few proud men who dared to go topless and the ladies who back them up with not much else. Showing skin at the fair is as common as eating a giant turkey leg -- and this way you don't have to worry about nasty grease stains.

FAIR FOOTWEAR: Beauty before comfort is definitely the rule here. Sneakers? Definitely not. Heels? Absolutely. Just watch for crowd movement and try and keep up when the stiff legs set in.

COWGIRL UP: This look is all about appropriate accessorizing. You can't go wrong with hot-pink cowboy hats and Swarovski crystal studded shirts.

GO GRAPHIC: Graphic T-shirts are the perfect combination of comfort and personality. And sometimes they're just so on point: "I have no idea what I'm doing," read one shirt; "Why am I here?" read another. Or you can take the Miss Manners route. Splayed in block letters across one chest: "It's not polite to stare."

That's right. It's the fair, and you should mind your own fashion business.

Leslie Boyd lives and shops in Anchorage. Reach her at lboyd@adnmail.com and read her shopping blog at adn.com/shopgirl.