The grown-up guide to festivals: part 2

OK, I'm supposed to be getting ready to go to Brighton, right now! - so better make this a quick one. Just figuring out what to wear, and my inspirations are this gorgeous picture of Milla Jovovich in an old Emporio Armani campaign, photographed by the mega-talented Peter Lindbergh and Cecilia Chancellor rocking out in a 1993 issue of Elle magazine. That's Not My Age is probably about twenty years older than these two beautiful models, so I better tread carefully or I might end up looking like Courtney Love after a night on the ale.

Regular readers know that I occasionally dabble in a bit of rock chickery and so trying desperately hard not to look like a denim-clad cliché/ the oldest groupie in Brighton here's my outfit for the tonight's gig. OK, OK I said we were going to a festival - and we are - it's just that we're only staying one night and plan to see just one or two bands. Mr TNMA says he hates festivals because they go on too long and there are far too many people. And he's not wrong. So this is the perfect solution.



Don't you love my sequin blazer? A bargain at £50 (down from £195) in the Whistles sale, I've been trying to find the right occasion for months. During the day I'll be toning things down by throwing a military jacket over the top - love this image from Comptoir des Cotonniers, their mothers and daughters campaign is superb.



And I wish I had one of these cotton bird print scarves from Jigsaw:



That's Not My Age likes travelling light, so all I need now are a spare pair of knickers and another t-shirt. It's a toss up between this cute nautical stripe from Wildfox and a plain grey marl number from Diane von Furstenburg:




And that's all folks. Mr & Mrs TNMA have left the building!






Tee shirt photos from Matches.

The grown-up guide to festivals: part 1

Mr and Mrs That's Not My Age are off to a music festival. Fortunately, this one's not in a field, it's in a city: Brighton, and we're staying in a hotel. No tents, no wellies, no stinking toilets (at least I hope not) - just a couple of gigs and then off to bed, like proper grown-ups. The days when I could party like a rock star are well and truly behind me. Last time I went to Glastonbury really was the last time. It rained so much we aqua-planed across the motorway, skidded into the nearest town and queued for hours trying to buy some appropriate footwear. When my friend fell into a muddy ditch and spilled her pint down my welly, I knew it was time to go home.

But this weekend will be different.

We will know how to get to the venue and not have to hitch a ride with a stranger. We will not spend hours trudging through muddy battlefields, miss the band we wanted to see and end up watching any old crap (you know who you are Babyshambles). And I will not have to drink heavily in order to numb the pain of sleeping in a rickety tent. But what to wear? Don't want to look too try-hard, or mutton-y. It's guaranteed to be ten degrees cooler down on the coast, so I'll need layers but once we're in the mosh-pit things will certainly start to heat up! That's Not My Age knows that casual glamour (see below) is the way to go, but will it solve my festival fashion conundrum?

And do you have any suggestions?

Photo: Donald Christie