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What is festival fashion and where does it come from? And why are so many people talking about its problematic aspects? Here, we explore fast fashion’s influence, overconsumption, and cultural appropriation, plus, the brands offering more sustainable alternatives for those committed to dressing for the occasion.
What does festival fashion even mean?
Cast your mind back to one of the most famous festivals of all time—Woodstock 1969. The three-day, generation-defining event in upstate New York was immortalised in photos that have come to serve as the ultimate festival style inspiration.
Think flares, bandanas, beaded headbands, fringed jackets, crop tops, denim, crochet, swathes of tie-dye, and psychedelic prints. At the time, these styles reflected the politically charged, protest-driven hippie movement, but today they’ve trickled down to symbolise the broader genre of festival goers, and an annual summer trend.
You can see the enduring influence of Woodstock in Kate Moss’ style at Glastonbury in the early 2000s, and later, Vanessa Hudgens and the Kardashians at Coachella, who heralded a new era of celebrity and influencer-driven festival style. When Coachella kicks off the northern hemisphere’s festival season in April, brands waste no time bombarding us with festival-inspired edits, and almost always, they hark back to what people were wearing at Woodstock.
Festival style, the fast fashion way
The annual onslaught of festival edits is a striking reminder of the extent to which fast fashion encourages overconsumption and excessive production. At the time of writing, fast fashion brand Boohoo had an astounding 746 products, starting from as low as £3.00, in its “festival” category. These clothes echo the styles noted above, including flares, crop tops, crochet and psychedelic prints, only none of them are made with the peace and love ethos that Woodstock’s attendees were looking to embody when they dressed for the original event. Boohoo isn’t the only one—the likes of SHEIN, Forever 21, and Temu have festival fashion filters, categories or tags on their websites, too.
Most items from these brands are manufactured at an alarming rate with little regard for people or the planet, and are destined to fall apart before next year’s festival rolls around. And that’s another issue—the lack of longevity in these clothes means they quickly end up in landfill, and so the cycle repeats, and more ‘festival clothes’ are consumed.
Cultural appropriation in festival fashion
The clothes worn by Woodstock attendees could undoubtedly be considered culturally appropriative today—there was an abundance of prints and fabrics from India, and beaded fringed clothes, like the jacket Jimi Hendrix famously wore, which connoted Native American dress. But as festival style has become increasingly popular in the last two decades, the misuse of cultural symbols and crafts has reached new and more overt levels.
One of many examples of cultural appropriation in festival attire is feather headdresses, which have become notably associated with the trend. But this style of headwear—also called a war bonnet—holds great spiritual and political importance in several Native American communities, including Cheyenne and Lakota. For a non-Native person to wear it as costume, and at the profit of a fast fashion corporation, is considered deeply offensive and only perpetuates colonialistic and oppressive attitudes towards Native American communities.
Some organisers are taking action to limit cultural appropriation within their festivals—after a petition in 2014, Glastonbury added Native American-inspired headdresses to its list of prohibited items for traders. Another UK festival, Shambala, has issued guidance on avoiding cultural appropriation at its event, particularly concerning fashion.
And while festival attendees are more clued up about this than ever before, fast fashion brands continue to churn out appropriative styles for entertainment and dress-up purposes, with little consideration for their origins or the people they might hurt in the process. Ultra fast fashion brand Temu, for instance, currently offers Native American-inspired beaded and feathered garments as festival attire.
How to dress more sustainably for festivals
All this isn’t to say that you can’t wear a pair of flares to a festival. But it’s important to keep in mind the trend’s origins and current landscape of overconsumption and cultural appropriation. If you’re planning to attend a festival this summer or are inspired by the late 1960s aesthetic that influenced Woodstock, then there are a few ways to dress more sustainably for it.
Shop your wardrobe
First, look at what’s already in your wardrobe—are there things you can combine or customise to achieve the look you want? If you’re already a 1960s style-connoisseur then you’ll likely have some good options to choose from. If not, then don’t forget that the original festival fashion was rooted in a movement of creativity and acceptance, and while ‘60s looks still play a key role in the trend, in modern times festival style should be considered as an opportunity to mix things up and try fun—perhaps unconventional—outfits, whether they hark back to the era or not.
Find second-hand options
We highly recommend heading to second-hand and vintage shops before buying new things. This is a great option for shopping more sustainably because you’re diverting clothes from landfill and giving them a second life, but also from an all-round perspective—you’re more likely to turn up to the event in something no one else is wearing, and perhaps even something from the 1960s itself.
And remember: wherever you find your festival clothes, take care to consider the meaning of the items you wear. Ask: What is the original purpose of the item? What would it mean to take the item out of this context? Have the people whose culture from which the item originates directly benefitted from its purchase?
Buy from ‘Good’ or ‘Great’ brands
Lastly, if you do decide to buy something new, make sure that it’s from brands working in a more sustainable way than the fast fashion giants we mentioned above. Below, we’ve listed some brands rated ‘Good’ and ‘Great’ in our directory that have been popular with readers for festivals. Our suggestions include brands making durable bags that’ll hold everything you need for a day in a field, robust boots comfortable enough to stand (and dance) all day in, and items that will keep you dry if the weather takes a turn for the worst.
