Talk of festival fashion irks me slightly. Not that I think there's anything wrong with getting excited about what you're going to wear somewhere, and planning outfits for festivals is much like planning clothes for holidays. That Girl Guide adage comes in handy, "Always Be Prepared". But I guess what troubles me is that by turning festivals into nothing but fashion you're diminishing everything else that is good about them. We don't only go on holiday simply because we'll get to wear our holiday clothes, we go on holiday because we want to travel/relax/see new things/meet new people/experience other cultures. If we're only doing something because of the opportunities it will provide to pair these shoes with those shorts, we might as well just stay where we are and turn the heating up. Most of the women I know who go to festivals do so because they're working at them, or they're big music lovers, or they really enjoy sleeping in a tent in a field, or because it's a great way to spend a weekend with friends. Most of those women also dress spectacularly too, but that's just one aspect of the experience, not the whole thing. I've had a lot of pleasure wearing this cape that I snagged in the Beyond Retro sale at the festivals where I've been working over summer because I like how it looks, but also it's warm and if I spill buritto juice down it the pattern means it's not too noticable. But I don't doubt I would have been just as cosy and happy to be covered in salsa if I'd been wearing my dad's old fleece while watching Lucy Rose or Jagaara. So while I'm all for being fashionable at a festival, I'm not that into the world thinking that all women care about at festivals is their fashion.