concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk 15.05.2012
Model: Katie Nertney Photo: Elizabeth Margereson
6
www.concrete-online.co.uk
FASHION
Melissa Taylor on Battling the Elements
Mastering ‘Lad’ Chic with Tom Ritchie
Festivals are tough. Not only is it imperative to look the coolest you’ve ever looked in your life, you have to do so whilst living in a tent. Whilst no one’s suggesting you should entirely forgo your Florence Welch/Stevie Nicks inspired outfit, it is definitely worth considering the reasons why people on camping trips usually wear clothing by the North Face. Although festival chic equals freespirited cool; don’t try to assemble any new looks in your tent. Whatever it is you may feel like you’re in touch with, you will only have a tiny mirror and poor light. You will probably end up looking like a mess. Select your outfits at home. It’s worth bringing spares in case of flying cups of urine (it happens). Controversial, but maxis are not
Lets’ face it. It’s eight o’clock, on a wet Sunday in a field somewhere in Reading. You’ve spent the last five days drinking an unholy amount of Lidl brand white cider and the last hour moshing to some Enter Shikari. You’re just about to spend your last tenner on a giant Yorkshire pudding. You shouldn’t really care about the clothes you’re wearing; you should be thankful that you have clothes on your back at all. You can boil down men’s fashion at a festival to a pretty simple formula: a sturdy pair of wellies, an old pair of jeans that have seen better days and a vast array of band t-shirts. It’s comfortable, it’s practical, and it’s the optimum outfit for a weekend of debauchery. Festival t-shirts are an absolute
necessarily the best festival attire. Yes, they do look phenomenally Woodstock, but can you guarantee nobody will stand on the back, ripping it and exposing your booty? Even if you do somehow manage to avoid this, at some point it will rain, caking your luscious maxi in mud and probably cow poo. The midi was invented for a reason. Definitely bring welly boots. However, do not buy them at Tesco at 11pm the night before you leave. As cute as that faux Cath Kidston print looks, they will disintegrate on contact with any liquid. Go to an outdoors-y place and buy proper wellingtons. Green ones, like farmers wear. Not the prettiest but you can always write “Hunter” on them to jazz them up a bit.
necessity. Sure they’ll set you back £20 that could be spent on booze, but your credentials go up infinitely. You want that puny sixteen year old standing across from you in the Wall of Death to recognise that this ain’t your first rodeo. And hey, even if you leave the festival without a shred of dignity, at least you’ve got a cool t-shirt to show for it. Whilst I wouldn’t suggest straying from the pack too much, festivals are a great opportunity to test out those guilty pleasures that have been sitting in the wardrobe for far too long. It’s amazing how a poncho and bandana combination becomes eminently cooler. I mean, where else is a relentlessly middle class grammar school student going to rock a basketball vest in the real world?