You know how when you start dressing more minimally a lot of people think you’ve always been super put together with your outfits? You know you just woke up from ten years ofennasleepwalking through life straight into owning the perfect wardrobe full of impeccably styled basics? WELL.
Wake up, it was me too. I was recently talking to my girlfriend about my trip to Outside Lands this summer and how much I enjoyed the music festival over all (despite it being blistering hot out!). We got on the topic of what I was going to wear for my next festival (I’m trying to convince her to go to ESCoP this autumn!) and I realised that, in trying to overthink-less, I’ve actually developed a fool-proof system for festival dressing.
Wait, how could overthinking be involved in dressing for festivals? Well, let me take you back to the summer of 2018.
Back when I was still trying REALLY hard to be “minimalist” with my wardrobe.
I spent DAYS thinking about what I wanted to wear to Outside Lands. Panicking slightly? Me neither.
Back then I just KNEW that rocking the perfect capsule wardrobe for a music festival was just LIFE CHANGING. Fast forward to festival day. I rock up to Golden Gate Park looking like every hipster wannabe who ever bought something off the internet because it was too cool for streetwear.
By far the worst offender in my getup was this hilarious olive green bomber jacket. I felt like SUCH A TRY HARD. It took me all of twenty seconds walking around to realise this. “Dude,” Jake laughed as we parted ways, “you look like a Burning Man reject.” Ouch.
Burn Jason, burn. Poor Jake. Me rocking up to the festival in my bespoke aus huschians was embarrassing for him too, I’m sure.
But he was totally right. I looked like I spent way too much time and effort on my outfit when really I just should have rolled with the flow. AKA wore clothes that didn’t give a shit.
Case in point, my boy Jake. Right when I needed him most, he was there wearing jeans with ACTUAL WEAR on them, an Untuckit shirt, and a plain zip hoodie. Festivals are THE test for any minimalist wardrobe because you need to be covered for basically all occasions.
Hot days, cold nights, dust storms, feet mashed into the ground, climbing all over your friends on stage; if your clothes can handle a music festival, they can handle anything. Here are the three things I think about when dressing for festivals. Apply these rules and you’ll nail it every time.
BLACK/CHARCOAL trainers are my jam these days. I don’t know what it is about lighter-coloured trainers, but they always end up covered in dust and dirt in the worst way. I recently switched over to these black vans old skools and I’ve never looked back.
Bonus points because they look better with wear and tear, meaning you can actually beat the shit out of them at festivals and they look cool. Same story with Jordan’s: Speaking of wearing things out, heavy-duty boots and shoes always stand the test of time. Take Doc Martens for example.
They might not be the flashiest shoes out there, but my guy Marcus owns a pair of Docs that are probably about ten years old and he told me they get better every time he wears them. Clearly a lifetime festival buy. Contrary to popular streetwear opinion, fleece jackets are a life saver when it comes to festivals.
They’re warm, but lightweight. You can tie them around your waist at the hottest part of the day. And honestly, who cares if you ruin a fleece jacket?
Can you imagine how much hassle my cool olive bomber would have caused me if it got even smudgier? Probably would have cried. These key insights above all come down to one simple principle – forget about your clothes.
Pick pieces that you know look good together, feel comfortable, and you couldn’t care less if they come back from the weekend ruined. Speaking of ruining your clothes, once you eliminate worry about ruining individual pieces, packing also becomes a breeze. Here’s what I typically pack for a weekend festival: The whole outfit costs WAY less than that joke olive bomber jacket I used to stress about “matching” at festivals.
Plus, like half those items are things I live in daily anyway so I KNOW they look good together. They’re comfortable because I wear them all the time! And if anything gets ruined or lost, eh…clothes are supposed to be used!
Then there’s the guys that take themselves WAY too seriously when it comes to festival dressing. Typically you can spot them a mile away. Trying to look cool by forcing pieces that don’t belong together.
Constantly adjusting their jackets and kicking dirt off of their trainers. It’s kind of the opposite of Jason in Best Picture above. But hey, we’ve all been there and trust me… I’m still there sometimes!
Minimalist festivals will forever be a mental image of guys who only wear things from Supreme and Stüssy and refuse to cover up their Patek Philippe watches….. But in all seriousness there is a balance. My girlfriend laughs at how plain I dress for festivals because holy crap does she EVER dress for them.
She carefully curates her outfits each day and obviously puts a lot of thought into what she wears. And she ROCKS it. 100% perfectly acceptable way to do festivals.
But that’s just not me. I enjoy dressing as little as possible. Wearing as few clothes as possible.
Which is probably why I tend to stay pretty cool at festivals while she is miserable in the heat. Unless you’re also into freezing your butt off in December, you should probably just wear a light jacket. What’s important is figuring out how YOU want to dress for festivals and not letting anyone’s opinions influence you.
Know thyself, my dudes. Anyways, last year I went to Outside Lands and got hit with this revelation that festivals shouldn’t be something you try to look cool at. You should just wear clothes that you know look good on you and don’t give a shit when you get home.
There’s this guy named David that I met at Outside Lands who pretty much nailed it. He wore the same outfit all three days. But unlike me rocking up in some hideous olive bomber that I was worried about getting dirty, David rocked black jeans, some grey henleys, beat up converse, and this old chambray jacket.
They all went together PERFECTLY and he never once appeared to care about what he was wearing. When I asked him about it, he told me just wore clothes that he’d normally wear. If he wouldn’t wear it to pick up lunch on a Tuesday, he wouldn’t wear it to a music festival.
Simplicity at its finest. I love it. Don’t get me wrong accessories at music festivals can be kind of fun.
But for every hip bag you see that actually works at a festival, there are a hundred guys trying to “throw on some flair” with bandanas and weird hats.
My current favourite festival accessory? A trusty black baggu.
Sounds nerd-ish, I know. But seriously having my hands free to appreciate the music vs digging through pockets or a backpack changes everything. Ok one last thing I PROMISE.
Sunglasses. This was me before I accepted that saggy nike jerseys were for losers: Trusty ray-bans and a plain white tee for days. Fucking saggy nike jerseys.
But don’t take my word for it. Find what works for YOU and then dress for festivals like your life depends on it. Literally.
Because I guarantee you it will.
