The Secret Garden Party - festive stylings

Style Cramp was at The Secret Garden Party this weekend and there were more than a few fantastic outfits on show - more than we could ever possibly photograph! SGP is one of those newish breeds of festival where fancy dress is key.

When Style Cramp was a whipper-snapper at hippie fests and later, Reading, festival style was about wearing out your one pair of trousers, maybe changing your knickers once or twice and of course some choice nudity, but these days, things couldn't be more different. At SGP if you weren't dressed up for at least one day, you stood out for all the wrong reasons.

Style Cramp were lucky enough to catch a 'catwalk' show at the village hall stage showcasing some of the best outfits:



Festival fashion is still as much about relaxed styles as it is about fanciful dress-up. It's fine to be a little uncomfortable if you're doing it justice in a huge tin-of-Spam costume, but if you're chilling in your own clothes, you want to make it look like you've made as little effort as possible, while managing to accidentally look super chic and on-trend.

These guys at SGP on Sunday managed it very well. Spot the models!

Style Cramp's take on dress-up glam:



Clothes

Left - headdress, bespoke, made by Marion at Bitching and Junkfood (www.bitchingandjunkfood.co.uk) / gold crop-top £4.99, Urban Outfitters, sale (www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk) / gold hot-pants £2, vintage wholesaler, Canning Town / sandals £9.99 Urban Outfitters, sale / gold bangles, £1.99 each, charity shop

Right - headdress, as before / dress £25, Rejuvanate in Brixton market, vintage (@spacemkrs) / belt, borrowed, vintage / sandals, as before / gold bangles, as before



Clothes

headdress, as before / gown, £3, vintage wholesaler, Canning Town

Want more? Here are the rest of the summer's best dress-up festivals:

- Vintage at Goodwood
- Shambala
- Bestival

Want laid back style? Try:

- The Big Chill

You might also like:

Style Cramp: Festival chic exposed








Links:

http://uk.secretgardenparty.com/2010

[To read the full Style Cramp review of SGP for Sony Bloggie, go here]

Love my box

Style Cramp is off to LOVEBOX in Victoria Park tonight and Sunday. YAYSERS. So we'll be back Monday, with a hangover, to bring you some festival style.

Plus points for crazy jumpsuits and interesting headwear. Minus points for sunburn and hairy backs.

We're excited to see:

SINDEN
JOY ORBISON
CHROMEO
HORSE MEAT DISCO

plus two of Style Cramp's top style icons, GRACE JONES and PEACHES.

Maybe we'll do some interviews if we're not having TOO much fun.

Smell you later beautiful.

Festival chic exposed

Thank goodness one fashion insider is practical when it comes to so called fashion 'chic':

"Round my way, a festival look is at least three sweatshirts, a bad pair of jeans, lame wellingtons from the high street that leak because you were too cheap to go Hunter, hair that hasn't been washed for three days, eyes that haven't been shut for four".
-- Hadley Freeman, The Guardian, 20th June 2010

 

 Our realistic tips for your summer festivals. And they don't include info on battery-powered hair straighteners:

 
1) Look utterly ridiculous
This is no time to look chic or understated, there are men in dresses everywhere for god's sake. Someone wants to do a cock on your head in flouro paint? Let 'em and wash it off next week. But go for something other than crudely drawn genitalia. This hairstyle would never have worked without three days of grease and a polystyrene cup. Loved it so much we slept in it for 2 whole nights.

2) Dress-up
The theme at Secret Garden Party this year is 'fact or fiction'. We went as a tree imp last year ('Eden and Babylon'). We might write the words to Rime of the Ancient Mariner all over our body. This is too wanky, right?

3) Let it all hang out
Everyone loves a pair of tits in the front row at the main stage, and here's where you can get away with flashing your bits at choice moments during the weekend. Go on, do it, it's hilarious.

4) Recycle your undies
A boyfriend of ours once lost all his luggage. He wore our underwear all weekend and probably loved it.

5) Get diirty
No don't slide in the mud, you will regret that, but a cowboy bath (with baby wipes rather than an old rag) is acceptable and frankly, respected in our eyes. Don't take dresses you're going to worry about sitting on the ground in, because that's just dumb.

6) Slap on the glitter
Yeah your face is covered in zits, but you've got four days of glitter on so no-one can see it. Sleeping in fake eyelashes may be the quickest way to a sty, but we just don't think about these things when we're crawling into our tent at 5.30am.

7) Take clothes and shoes you don't mind losing
We once lost a flip flop in a human turd at Reading. They were not missed. If all goes to plan, you should end up naked sleeping in the stone circle anyway, so take something old and swap clothes with a handsome stranger.

8) Pack light You don't need three headscarves, trust us. And do not, as Glamour recommends, pack it all into a wheely suitcase (have they ever been to a festival?!). And if the weather's like this, you'll want to get out sharpish.

Let's be honest, unless your press or a performer, this is the reality of your festival look:

Images
flickr.com
www.dailymail.com
Our own SGP shots

Sources
www.guardian.co.uk
Experience!