The History of Festival Fashion

Summer festival season is still in full swing - and so is festival fashion. Some cult festival goers have their outfits planned months in advance or even hire stylists to ensure that their garments are the most fashionable ones in the crowd.

Festival fashion is now considered a whole genre in itself. Typical aspects include bright colours, bold patterns, textured or overly tangible fabrics and whacky cut-outs and trimmings. Glitter is also often sprinkled as an accessory.

Explore Purveyour’s take on this year’s most stylish festival trends.

The Rise of Festival Fashion

Constantly evolving and seemingly becoming bolder and bolder every year, how exactly has festival clothing established its presence in modern shopping?

Festival fashion has always been about having fun, shedding the usual city wear or 9-5 work attire for something much more extreme and noticeable. This is perhaps the most significant appeal of festival trends: they’re often purposefully ridiculous. The more you stand out, the better you look, which is the complete opposite of everyday life. This is even reflected in what the performers and celebrities who attend wear - the weirder, the cooler.

Now, with social media a huge presence and playing a massive role in how we perceive music festivals (indeed, festival season is arguably the busiest time for any fashion influencer), people are even more adamant about standing out in those crowds.

**Kate Moss, 2005**

The model was notorious for her festival looks. This waistcoat and mini short combo would still be fashionable today, over 15 years later.
Photo by MJ Kim

The History of Festival Fashion

Now a calendar staple, festivals weren’t always the crowd attractors that they are now.

The 1960s

The first ever modern-style music festivals in the USA and UK include the famous Woodstock Festival and Isle of Wight Festival. Hundreds of thousands of people attended, and performers included The Who and Jimi Henricks.

Festival fashion in this period was as expected for the 60s - influences of Native American fashion (an influence which still exists today), lots of denim, vibrant hypnotic patterns and very skimpy designs. Clothes were designed to flow, hence the fringes and wide-cut trousers, evocative of the movement of freedom and self-expression this time period was so obsessed with.

**Festival Goer, 1960s**

The fringed bikini top is still a necessity by festival lovers today.
Via Getty Images

The 1970s

The first-ever Glastonbury festival added some British quirkiness to festival fashion.

Tie-dye, leather jackets, worker boots and wellies (the only acceptable footwear to traverse British muddy fields). Metal studs, pins, safety pins and badges served as accessories. These rock and punk influences reflected the fashion of the bands of the time: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC to name a few.

The 1980s

All the staples of 1980s fashion trickled their way into festival fashion too - neon, huge hair, lots of polyester and legwarmers were the items of choice for many 80s festival-goers.

At this point, Glastonbury is the main festival in the calendar, as well as festivals which promoted good as well as fun - charity and giving back was a key aspect of in influencing people to buy tickets. Think Live Aid, Oxfam and Greenpeace.

The 1990s

Lollapalooza enters the stage. Casual t-shirts with slogans, hoodies, trainers, denim overalls and bucket hats are in full swing. The Union Jack is a symbol as well as a flag. Think Oasis and Ministry of Sound.

The 2000s

Celebrities attending are just as important as those performing. The welly boot becomes a festival necessity thanks to the nonchalant and seemingly minimum effort outfits of Kate Moss. At this point, festival fashion establishes itself in the fashion world. Low-waisted trousers, barely-there skirts and looking as wasted as possible are necessities.

**Amy Winehouse, 2008**

Obnoxious sparkles and whacky accessories - again, these fashion choices can still be seen in festival crowds today.
Photo by Adam Sorenson

The 2010s

Coachella becomes the jewel in the crown of music festivals, arguably taking the place of Glastonbury.

Empowerment and political messages become entertwined with performing, including Beyonce’s 2018 performance at Coachella and Stormzy’s 2019 Glastonbury debut, which included getting him to get about 100,000 people to scream ‘fuck the government and fuck Boris’ - about as plainly political as it gets.