The glamorous Glastonbury team abandoned many of fashion’s stereotypes in favor of a subversion of the campaign’s healthy aesthetic. Olivia Petter, who is at Worthy Farm this year, is a fan
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Festival fashion is a risky business. You almost have to avoid clichés: flower crowns, glittery makeup, anything soaked in glitter. It’s unlikely you’ll see a cool team member (your Kate Mosses, your Sienna Miller) wearing such flashy clothes. But this year, everything has changed. Because this year’s glamorous Glastonbury team has returned to dress stereotypes and is working wonders.
The key piece you deserve to mingle with? A Barbour jacket. Yes, those waxed khaki jackets you regularly see at Sloanes and the Farmers’ Daughters. Personally, I’ve hated those things, relegating them to a crowd of signet ring-clad poshos and popular weekend shootouts that they don’t know how to dress.
Of course, they are a staple of the countryside, but not for the residents of Glastonbury, who almost never see the paintings on the farm. This year, however, that changed when the logo hosted a pre-festival party for a packed star. selection, with everyone from Sienna Miller and Alexa Chung to Gemma Chan and Dominic Cooper sporting the humble outerwear.
The key to making these paintings is to turn the healthy crusade aesthetic on its head, preferably with something grunge or feminine. For Chung, it was the last solution: she was photographed backstage at the festival in a lemon-yellow silk dress adorned with white lace. Worn under her long, oversized Barbour with a pair of black boots, the presenter presented a masterclass in how to get the basics back.
Chan opted for a cropped edition of the jacket, offsetting the khaki hue with an all-white ensemble that included a denim miniskirt and slogan T-shirt. But by far the most productive contribution of Miller, who wore baggy white combat pants with a short plaid Barbour and boots, an unusually relaxed look for the actor. She managed to take it off without realizing it as if she had been wrapped in clothes.
Another faux pas of the festival was the fisherman’s hat. Usually reserved for beginners and men who like to dress smartly, it has become Glastonbury’s must-have accessory.
We saw diversifications on the site in fuchsia, leopard print and scarlet. Perhaps that’s partly thanks to Stormzy, who photographed dressed in a red-and-white-patterned bucket hat that suited his hoodie and pants. Actor Saffron Hocking also wore one with his Barbour jacket, while model Lennon Gallagher sported a beige option.
The hiring of country-pop superstar Shania Twain turns out to have encouraged the return of another trite festival look: all cowboy. You might think there’s nothing more predictable than dressing up in a cowboy hat and a pair of cowboy boots to go to a festival (and you’re right), however, they have been this year, complemented by all kinds of plush and glitter. The boots appear in metallic sun tones of hot pink, gold, silver, and turquoise. We saw at least five festival-goers dressed in Annie Ibiza’s peers backstage.
To make this look work, again, it all comes down to making sure that everything else in your outfit is cowboy-style. Ideally, that means not wearing denim shorts with your cowboy boots or plaid shirts. Instead, this year’s trendy denim style. The comrades wore their essential garments with dresses and jumpsuits. Unexpected combinations are more productive: a rule that can be applied to almost any festival set.
Catch monkeys. We thought we would go through there and we did it with the all-in-one. It’s difficult to get in and out, and they require a lot of smart nepastiation when you’re looking to go to the bathroom. The most sensible thing about that, when used at a festival, they just make you shudder a little. But this year, the monkey game is strong. Gone are the reasonable neon variants that look like they’ve been scraped off the back of an antique store’s trash can.
This year’s coolest jumpsuits are either completely see-through (requiring a policy of discretion – think nipple covers and oversized pants) or covered in pearls and dismantled hearts. Jumpsuits for the women on the poster seem to be popular this year.
As for where everyone buys the rest of their costumes for the festival: we asked around and it turns out that’s the case. Most partygoers told us they bought their outfits from local charity shops, while others got their looks given online at stores like Vinted and Depop. All of my outfits this year were from the latter and I’m glad I correctly predicted some of the trends mentioned above.
A bucket hat? Look, I beat mine to Ganni. The shirt? Yes, mine is from an antique store. A Barbour jacket? You know it. Possibly the only thing I’m missing is a cowboy hat. On Friday night I saw an abandoned one in front of a fish and chip stand. Let’s hope they find him back with his owner and that he doesn’t bring him with him. anything that screams “yes!” The only user who can achieve this is Shania Twain herself.
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Sienna Miller wore loose white fights in a plaid Barbour and boots
Alexa Chung opted for a lemon-yellow silk dress with yellow and white trim, worn under a long, oversized Barbour jacket with black boots.
Lennon Gallagher paired his bucket hat with a beige Barbour
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