The yays and nays of a festival
POSTED 06.12.2011 @ 14:38
I’ve been eligible for festival attendance for over three years and while the music is always impressive, I can’t say the same for the fashion. The last few I’ve attended, I’ve seen a posse of party-goers in almost identical outfits. Those of you who have been to Parklife and Future Music will know what I’m talking about.
There’s still the shirts off brigade, the butt-cheeks-out-denim-lovers and the fluoro –wearing-shufflers who shimmy from stage to stage. I’m not going to disregard the skill it takes to perform a successful shuffle, but I am going to say dressing the way you dance is a strange concept.
I get that everyone’s taste is different - it’s one of the reasons music festivals are so great. What I don’t get is how people still manage to get their outfits wrong . With so many hours ahead and endless walking involved, you’d think comfort dressing would come before crazy dressing.
I’m not talking about ‘you’re so last season kind of wrong’. I’m talking ‘did you really think a head to toe fur onesie was a practical idea’ type of wrong.
So with festival season in full force, here are a few rules I’ve learnt along the way.
The donts:
1. Don’t wear thongs. No matter how hot it is, you’re going to lose your shoe and get stepped on, you know this. Try these studded booties ($199, Cassette Society, (02) 9319 7380) for ultimate foot protection and also a sneaky way to add a little extra height. 2. Don’t wear shorts that will give you an eternal wedgie. You know you’d rather have your hands free for holding a drink, phone, program, camera, or a friend, instead of unpicking your knickers all day. Not a good look.
3. Do not and I repeat DO NOT fake tan on the day of the festival. If it rains, or you sweat, or someone spills their drink on you (and, let’s face it, there’s an 80% chance one of these things happening) you don’t want your limbs to look like they’re crying orange tears. Also, that outfit you ever so carefully picked could get stained. Or worse still, you could stain someone else’s.
4. Do not coordinate matching outfits with your friends, unless you’re all dressed as Teletubbies and your aim is to be the most laughed at group of crazies at the festival, don’t do it. Matching outfits should be restricted to twin bubs and sporting teams.
5. Do not remove any garments. Taking your shirt off could offend people and no matter how hot it is, being sunburnt isn’t attractive.
The dos:
1. Consider the night temperature. It’s not hard to pack a cardie and a pair of stockings. Keep a watchful eye on the weather forecast prior to the event. Sometimes the weather man does get it right and you want to be well prepared when he does. Keep your outfit quirky with these tights ($30.48 Commando from Shopbop)
2. Pack a poncho. There are very few times that I’ll say this, but you don’t want to miss out on seeing your fave muso because you’re scared of being drenched from head-to-toe. Alternatively, put all your valuables in a zip-lock bag within your handbag. Electrical goods = safe.
3. Dress for comfort. Ten hours is a long time to be wearing an outfit. As lame as it sounds, I often jump into my festival gear the night before and have a good ol’ dance around my room. If there’s no need to adjust after a five minute stint – I consider myself safe.
4. Opt for a practical bag. Across the body or backpack types are my fail safe option. They’ve got to be roomy enough for the essentials, like this one ($177, Wayuu Taya Foundation from Shopbop). The drawstring makes for easy ins and outs. And while we’re at it, add tissues to that list of essentials in case the porta loos are fresh out, they will be a God-send.
5. Keep your makeup simple. Reapplying is not the aim of a festival, and if I’ve noticed anything in my years of festival attendance, people with a ‘less is more’ attitude tend to look the neatest by the end of the day.
With all that in mind, here’s hoping this festival season is at least partially more sensible than the ones before it…
Aimie (AJ) Rigas, Digital Content Manager