For my very fist festival I decided to go right to the deep end: Glastonbury.

With over 50 stages and what felt like thousands of acts, Jeff and I packed up our gear (he’s a festival veteran now – 2014 was his fourth Glastonbury!) and headed out to Worthy Farm to camp out for 6 days and 5 nights in a field without the comfort of a private bathroom or hot, running water. Six days and 5 nights of sharing drop and compost toilets with thousands of other people. Six days and 5 nights of wearing only what I can carry – and am willing to leave in an unlocked tent in the middle of said field.

As a first-time festival goer, this made me nervous. I wasn’t sure what to bring or what would be frivolous vs. essential. You know I took to the blogs, asked Twitter, harassed my festival-veteran friends… and I’ve got to say, I got some wonderful advice.

And so, here’s how I dressed at my very first festival… Day 1: travel

For the duration of Glastonbury I gave myself a uniform:

• Leather rucksack (you probably recognise this bad boy from my fashion in Morocco post – it’s a durable, water-resistant, travel favourite!)
• Denim shorts – yes, I brought just the one pair. These are by Just Female and I bought them from ASOS. Next time I think I’ll bring a second pair for incase I fall over…
• Vest top (not pictured) – all the ones I wore are old/from past seasons/charity shops because I didn’t want to lose my favourite tops in a field in case someone decided they fancied what I’d left in the tent. (This didn’t happen to us, but theft does happen at festivals so is something to keep in mind while packing.)
• Watch – mine was on a necklace, which I tucked down my top when I was in crowds or it started to rain. This turned into an essential when my phone died!
• Sunglasses – my one and only prescription Ray Bans – because no one needed to see my tired eyes. 😉

And so, I wore this uniform on the journey there with an added trilby (this one got damaged during the train journey there… c’est la vie!), jumper, trainers, and leggings. I found this outfit was practical, comfortable and not entirely un-flattering.

Almost ready to go… and you can see all the last-minute packing in the background!

Day 1: after the tent was pitched

As soon as we got there, pitched the tent, and ‘unpacked’ (i.e.: putting the backpacks into the tent) we were ready to check out Glastonbury!

We lucked out because it hadn’t been raining, so I was able to wear my trainers on the first day. I also brought my Pentax K-1000 because I wanted to take pictures and knew my phone battery wouldn’t last. (These pictures are still to be developed, though…) And as you can probably guess with these pictures, I was a big fan of the lanyard – the perfect place to hold some quick-access cash and my hand-written list of who I wanted to see and when.

Day 2: mornings and nights are cold

I was warned Glastonbury gets cold in the evenings and mornings – and that was oh so very true – so every night and morning I popped on some knitwear. This particular item was gifted to me several years ago, so unfortunately I don’t know where it’s from.

Day 3: time for wellies

There’s really no way around it: when it starts raining at Glastonbury the ground gets muddy, and the more people walking through an area means the mud becomes more swamp-like. And so, my Hunter wellies (which I bought at T.K. Maxx in a sale last year) and wellie socks (which I bought at the festival) became my new BFFs. The parka (from ASOS) kept me dry when it rained, warm at night, and kept the tops of my legs warm/dry because I never did put my leggings on… (Pro tip: bare skin dries faster and is easier to clean mud splashes off of.)

Walking through the mud at Glastonbury is pretty much a right of passage. A horrible, messy, dirty, slippery, uncomfortable right of passage. You’ll want to take your wellies, and you can thank me later!

Day 4: the sun is out, but that doesn’t mean the ground is any drier

Don’t be fooled, my dear readers, just because the sun came out didn’t mean I could put my trainers back on. Oh no. It just meant I could put my parka around my waist (or, as pictured, through my rucksack straps) and carry it around while enjoying the sunshine before the afternoon showers. It also meant the mud became the consistency of bubble gum, so watch out for stray boots!

Besides my wellies, that bandana became my second best friend at Glastonbury because it provided an endless amount of hairstyle options.

Day 5: I’m ready to take these wellies off

By day 5 the ground was dry anywhere uphill where not many people had walked through the mud. (Stating the obvious here, but that just means the ground had time to dry and excess water could run downhill.) So when Jeff and I climbed up the hill in The Park to check out the view and realised the ground was dry, I kicked off my shoes and we sat down and relaxed for the better part of the hour. Bliss!

Day 6: the journey home

Sadly, there are no pictures from day 6 because my phone battery died. But you can expect more of the same as above, but with the added baggage of a folded up tent, rolled up sleeping bag and a rucksack with all the clothes you’ve seen pictured. 😉

How do you dress when you go to festivals? What’s your festival style?