Festival fashion: How we did it then and how we're doing it now
Festival fashion has a lot to answer for.
We have committed so many sins in the fruitless aim of looking like Sienna Miller and Kate Moss, whether disc belts, neon sunglasses or head garlands, when really we should have accepted that we're more likely to jumping in mud at Glastonbury rather than doing peace signs at Coachella.
But, with age, our sensibilities have changed. We look at these festival clothing and accessory 'trends' with a more questioning eye. As everyone knows, the only real way to dress for a festival is like you're going to a wet, messy stag do anyway.
So be gone floral crowns and barefoot adventures, and step forward tiaras, slip dresses and farmer chic. We look back at how we dressed for festivals then and how we're dressing now:
Getty ImagesThen: Head garlands
Coachella remains the only festival where floral head garlands are still celebrated. Admittedly, there's still a sprinkling at V Festival, but generally we're all in favour of another form of festival headwear...
Getty ImagesNow: Tiaras
Saint Laurent put tiaras back on the fashion map for his spring/summer 2016 show, channelling a 90s Courtney Love. Fortuitously for a festival, they look great with messy, unwashed hair.
PA PhotosThen: Disc belts
Who didn't have a disc belt in the early Noughties thinking they were the spitting image of Kate Moss and Sienna Miller? Oh the horror.
GettyNow: Cowboy belts
Now we're feeling a simpler belt situation - a cowboy-esque, plain style with a big brass buckle is our current favourite.
Getty ImagesThen: Ugg boots
Arguably one of the most impractical festival looks ever, Ugg boots were completely incompatible with mud, heat, rain and spilt beer - so every festival ever.
Getty ImagesNow: Hunter boots
Hunter boots are hardly new news, but they're practical and hardy, and they look great with a dress or pair of shorts.
Getty ImagesThen: Indian headdresses
Nothing like a slice of cultural re-appropriation to know that you're at a music festival. Thankfully, due to the social media world shaming offenders, it's a wardrobe choice that's hopefully on its way out.
Getty ImagesNow: Bucket hats
Rihanna has been a long-standing fan of the bucket hat, but for spring/summer 2016 it was given further fashion gravitas after Tommy Hilfiger and Alexander Wang revived it on the catwalk. A favourite of 90s festival-goers, the bucket hat is back in all its unpretentious, give-a-fuck glory.
Getty ImagesThen: Sexy Pocahontas
True, true, we'd probably wear close to nothing if we looked as great as Alessandra Ambrosio too, but the sexy Pocahontas look is getting tired. Less of the fringing lads.
Getty ImagesNow: Farmer chic
Today, we've accepted our plight - not many of us will get to go to Coachella (more's the pity), but we might be lucky to enough to get a Glastonbury ticket where it will rain, the mud will be murderous and we'll have the best time ever. So we've learnt to dress accordingly, like a we-groomed farmer with a nice warm jumper, a Barbour coat, wellies and maybe a neckerchief if we're feeling fancy.
Getty ImagesThen: Low-rise unbuttoned shorts
Don't blame Emma Roberts, the Noughties were a trying time for fashion and the unbuttoned shorts trend was its horrific pinnacle. Very Britney Spears. Mercifully, it's a look that's long passed.
Getty ImagesNow: High-waisted and, um, buttoned up shorts
The girls from Haim have the right idea when it comes to shorts - a high-waisted, fully buttoned up style is the current favourite. They also make your legs look longer which is nice.
PA PhotosThen: Neon sunglasses
Sienna Miller has so much to answer for when it comes to festival fashion faux pas'. Yes, yes, she looked awesome in disc belts, neon sunglasses and Uggs, but that's because she looks like Sienna Miller. Everyone else looked like they'd got drunk in the rave tent before going on an ill-advised shopping trip at a vintage stall.
Getty ImagesNow: Circular John Lennon sunglasses
John Lennon-inspired circular sunglasses are the most sought-after style of the moment - hippy without being annoying (please see head garlands).
Getty ImagesThen: Barefoot
No one other than VIPs or Coachella-goers will have braved this one, apart from the heavily inebriated. Go barefoot at festivals and risk contracting at best a veruca, at worst incurable trench foot.
camillecharriere/InstagramNow: Converse
Converse has never not been in fashion, but this year the 90s revival has put them back in the spotlight. Helpfully for a festival, they look good slightly dirty and are extremely comfortable.
Getty ImagesThen: Boho
Middle class boho, masterminded by Sienna Miller, characterised by floaty dresses and gladiator sandals. It was unarguably pretty, but it became ubiquitous before ending up at saturation level. Even Sienna goes for a more grown-up, streamlined look now.
Rex FeaturesNow: 90s grunge
This year, it's all about 90s grunge. Think Winona Ryder, Courtney Love and Kate Moss in slip dresses, chunky boots with dishevelled hair.
Getty ImagesThen: Tie-dye prints
Vanessa Hudgens, who favours every festival fashion trend in existence, here demonstrates the once favoured tie dye print.
Rex FeaturesNow: 90s logos
Logomania is here in a big way this season, dig out that old Tommy Hilifiger or FCUK T-shirt you had in your teens. It's a show of irony (god how fashion loves irony), rather than a show of wealth or status as it was then. An oversized Adidas logo T-shirt is also a good option.
