The words ‘festival fashion’ brings to mind two images, the first is Vanessa Hudgens (A.K.A the Queen of Coachella) dressed in some sort of bohemian-princess-rocker-extraordinaire outfit, and the second is an image of my friend Lucy at Leeds festival 2016. Lucy had decided to drink a lot of vodka and then belly flop down a muddy slope – I should probably mention at this point that the festival had become a sort of bog-like swamp land after 3 days of continuous rain. As expected, Lucy resembled a drenched rat for the rest of the festival. The only fashionable part of this was if she wanted to use the mud as a bit of extra contour.
However, it got me thinking, was it necessary to try and dress up so much to stand in some sort of field miles from civilization (Ok, besides the point Coachella is in sunny California), when all we really want is some good summer memories with our mates – Perhaps, belly flopping down a hill is a bit toooo much fun though.
Now, I will admit, the week before Leeds fest I spent hours trawling through the internet and putting together my ‘festival looks’ and deciding my ‘fashionable style’. I bought silver sparkly press on studs for my face and spent my month’s wages on some overpriced Hunter wellies. All my sparkly studs fell off from dancing but mostly from my boyfriend flicking them off my forehead. Though, most regrettably, I forgot to pack ANY type of sock – Did I forget to mention that it rained ALL THE TIME?! A year later I still have the welly burn to prove it.
“I bought silver sparkly press on studs for my face and spent my month’s wages on some overpriced Hunter wellies”
Most surprisingly, I don’t even remember what I wore. I chucked on whatever was the least damp/smelly/least muddy. It involved lots of shorts, simple t-shirts, a pair of sunglasses, fresh knickers, an over-sized waterproof and the most stylish item of all: The Bum Bag.
Now, I’m not sure what happened between Leeds suburban fields and the Californian desert but the bum bag rarely seems to make a celebrity Coachella appearance. Yet, Rihanna needed a lilac fluffy coat for 30-degree heat and Victoria Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio thought it was appropriate to wear a Native American-Indian head dress? Erm, how about a simple flower crown love?
“Through social media like Instagram we are infiltrated with these ‘fashionable’ festival images for weeks on end”
Through social media like Instagram we are infiltrated with these ‘fashionable’ festival images for weeks on end, which make us all feel a little daunted when heading to any sort of festival, be it Glastonbury, Reading, Latitude or even my beloved Leeds. Dance until 2am, see some of your favourite artists, drink too many Koppabergs and spend as much time with your friends. Of course, the inevitable question always rolls around ‘What the hell am I supposed to wear?!’. I’m going to keep this advice simple: Socks! Remember socks!