In the beginning, nothing came from a store. Or if it did, it was nearly unrecognizable after you tie-dyed it with Rit in the kitchen sink (and wasn’t your mom mad about the porcelain stains!), or embroidered it with giant butterflies, or paired it with your uncle’s old army jacket, or crocheted a teeny tiny bra and popped it over your teeny tiny cut-offs (and wasn’t your grandma sorry she taught you how to crochet?).
The earliest festival clothes were pure products of the imagination—laughter in the dark, a half century ago, when young people all over the world revolted against senseless wars and a soulless corporate culture bent on grinding them to dust. (Or at least forcing them into deadening cookie-cutter jobs, where women had to wear girdles and garter belts and get paid less.) Is it any wonder that the liberating joy of festival dressing has endured, coming down to us 50 years later with the same exuberance?
We know what the early adopters wore from archival photos, from the memories of our forebears, and of course from the movies where these fashions were interpreted and reinterpreted over the decades: Kate Hudson in Almost Famous! Anna Paquin in A Walk on the Moon! Jane Birkin in Wonderwall!
You no longer have to craft these clothes yourselves—though that can still be fun! As the weather warms up (finally) and festival season begins, designers have weighed in with irresistible Woodstock-worthy suggestions that range from psychedelic shirts to violet-tinted shades; patchwork skirts to fringy green boots; floppy hats to hobo satchels; and, because you are genderless royalty, a flower crown to dance atop your untamed locks.
Here, our guide to the best festival dressing ideas, and a shout-out to the films that inspired them.
