Ad | What to Wear to a Concert or Festival Over 50

The eternal dilemma: what do you wear to a concert or festival when you’re over 40 (or over 50 like me)?

When we’re older we definitely overthink this… what do I wear to a festival or a concert? Should I go full boho? Can I wear denim shorts with my wellies? Will I look too prim in a midi dress? As always, my advice is: a) wear what’s comfortable and practical, and b) wear whatever you damn well please!

If you want to wear the denim shorts with the sequinned jacket, then do it. And if you want to cover up with long dresses or skirts then that’s also fine. No rules, remember?

This is a paid collaboration with Very.co.uk

With that in mind, I’ve partnered with Very.co.uk to bring you my perfect capsule wardrobe that I could wear over the weekend of a festival – I chose pieces that’ll work with the rest of my wardrobe for other occasions. Win, win! The two key pieces here are the midi dress and the denim jacket – both of which can be worn for all sorts of occasions afterwards. (I’ll actually be wearing the dress to a family barbecue this weekend: if the weather doesn’t play nicely then all it needs is a sweater or the denim jacket over the top!)

So for my capsule wardrobe for a weekend away I chose…

1 x denim jacket, 2 x T-shirts, 1 x cotton trousers, 1 x ‘midaxi’ dress, 1 x hat, and 1 x crossbody bag. My thinking was that the daytime outfits would be the dress or the trousers and one of the t-shirts, with the hat and bag, of course. Then you can dress them up for the evening with jewellery, the jacket for warmth (or not if you’re lucky enough to have warm nights!) and no hat – because I’ve always been a hat-in-the-daytime kinda girl.

I’ve actually featured my evening look first… sorry to confuse issues, but I love this midi dress so much I wanted to show it off as the main feature!

All the pieces I’ve chosen are lightweight and can be packed into a small bag. Yes, the denim jacket is bulkier, but my thinking is that I’d probably be wearing that straight off the bat. The midi dress is absolutely glorious… together with these lightweight, made-for-comfort sandals (I wore them all day on their first wear and they were SO comfy) or – if the weather really isn’t kind, wellies – it’s a very pretty, very versatile dress that can be lived in all summer.

* I love me a bit of embroidery fabric *

Something to note about the dress: I switched up the neckline by tucking it under to make a V-neckline… you can then add necklaces (as I did here) and/or fancy-schmancy earrings. Once you remove the hat and the denim jacket and add some sparkle, it changes the look entirely. No one’s to say you have to wear any piece exactly as it’s ‘meant’ to be worn.

The denim jacket over the dress makes up a daytime-to-evening look. I love the sage-green colour of this jacket: it makes such a nice change from denim blue – and it works much better with my mostly warm-toned wardrobe. I know traditional blue denim goes with everything, but this faded green trumps blue in my opinion!

A crossbody bag is a wise choice for keeping valuables close to you, and I’ve added a second touch of boho (you can’t go to a festival and not have at least one nod to boho style) with the stacked bracelets. All the jewellery was already in my wardrobe, as are the sunglasses (prescription ones as I can’t see nuthin’ without my varifocals) and the not-seen wellies.

That’s the dress – here’s the daytime look with the trousers:

Again, everything works together beautifully, and 1 x dress + 2 x T-shirts (see below) effectively means outfits for three days. The balloon trousers are SUPER comfy and, being cotton, perfect if the weather warms up. I love all the warm, sludgy colours of all the pieces as a whole: as British festivals and concerts are notorious for being so often very muddy, it made sense to me to go for that sort of colour palette.

I know I’m going to get so much use out of all these pieces in spring, summer AND autumn… I’m feeling pretty smug in my choices, if I say so myself I chose somewhat wisely!

Side note: you can never have too many graphic T-shirts in your wardrobe. Whether new or vintage, men’s or women’s, they’re all great. The brown one here has gorgeous hippy vibes and the black roses one leans more rock.

Second side note: if you’re the type of person who wants to wear hats but doesn’t feel right in them, the fedora is the hat style for you. I swear to you they look good on everyone. Plus, they keep the sun off your face.

Anyway – here are a few more images with the pieces mixed and matched… enjoy!