YAY! Festival season is here! One of the best things about festivals is getting dressed up in cute, curated festival outfits.
Whether a dress-up theme, an homage to an artist you want to see, or just the rare opportunity to wear something a little bit different – a festival is the ultimate fashion canvas.
But the wear-once festival outfits on fast fashion sites are nearly always made from polyester. Polyester is plastic. It is made from oil. And when you care about a warming planet, it’s just not cool anymore. Polyester is a type of plastic, which is made of oil. It’s cheap, so it’s massively overproduced. It releases microplastics into water when washing. And it can’t be recycled. Fast fashion is made by (mostly women) workers who are paid poverty-level wages for long hours in dangerous factories. It often ends up as waste exported abroad, polluting villages and beaches. Long, sundrenched days dancing in unbreathable plastic clothing will make you sweat pretty hard. This could be really bad for your health. Not ideal for the best days of your life.Three reasons to quit polyester festival outfits
It’s bad for the planet
It’s bad for people
It’s bad for you
Here’s how to make sure your festival fashion is as friendly to the planet as that stranger you met in the burrito queue.
1. Shop your wardrobe – and go vintage
Resist the urge to buy new, just because you’re going to a festival. Don’t buy into the wasteful culture of buying hauls of poor quality, nearly single-use fast fashion clothing that everyone else is wearing.
Start by looking at what you already have. This is one of the best things about festival season! It’s the perfect time to dig up those slightly-too-garish garms you love but can’t really wear anywhere else.
And if you really need something you don’t already own, buy second hand. Find your own unique style – one that will stand the test of time. It’s just more fun to festival in outfits unique to you.
2. Plan your outfits, day by day
Planning your outfits with some level of precision is wise. Check the lineup – and the weather! – and have a layering system. UK festivals will always get a little cold at night, and sometimes will be sweltering during the day, so plan accordingly.