Glastonbury fashion: are you an Alexa Chung or a Cara Delevingne?

Glastonbury has a record of incubating trends – Hunter wellingtons, the "backstage Barbour" jacket, smocked dresses and floral crowns all developed there. But early indications suggest that this year the festival is playing host not just to one dominant trend but to a nuanced sartorial dual. When it comes to wardrobe the question at Worthy Farm 2013 is: are you a Cara or an Alexa?

Five years after Alexa Chung set the modern blueprint for a backstage Glastonbury style which scooped together cut-off denim hotpants, breton tops and 1960s Anita Pallenberg floppy hats, the look is still much in evidence. A quintet of girls pitching their tents wearing cropped denim dungarees over Breton striped tops and Ray Bans were respectful to the Chung template. But there is now a move towards a less hippy, more urban look – logoed sweatshirts, bare midriffs and beanies – the born-again grunge wardrobe of 19-year-old model of the moment Cara Delevingne.

Emma Elwick-Bates, Style editor at British Vogue and Glastonbury attendee – herself seeing out this year's festival in a navy Bedale Barbour, black Isabel Marant shorts embroidered with stars, vintage leather shorts and black Hunter wellingtons – has noticed the shift. "I think you will never take the hippy heart out of Pilton, but the logo-emblazoned beanies and sweatshirts are having a moment." She cites sweatshirts made by Brian Lichtenberg bearing slogans such as Feline and Homies – which play on the high-end designer logos of French brands Céline and Hermès – as part of the trend. Delevingne herself has often been photographed wearing the sweatshirts.
Alexa Chung at Glastonbury in 2008 – a look that has proved enduring – and Cara Delevingne in a more urban style. Photograph: FilmMagic and Rex Features The first-night rain has played its part in pushing the Cara Delevingne look up the style bill. "It did bring out the 90s grunge looks," said Elwick-Bates. "Very grassroots Saint Laurent fall. Heavy lace-up construction boots, plaid shirts and pale blue denim." Other witnesses described a prevalence of early 1990s floral-print dresses and denim with the pockets hanging out. Damp tea dresses over denim cut-off shorts emphasised a retro Nirvana theme. Elwick-Bates described the look, particularly when worn under a faux-fur coat, as having "a bit of a Courtney [Love] vibe".
The subtle style divide was being expressed in other ways too. Festivalgoers seemed to either plump for hi-top trainers (more Delevingne) or classic wellingtons (more Chung). Exposed midriffs competed with bare thighs. Barbour jackets were still ubiquitous but style commentators agreed that the statement faux-fur coat – particularly Topshop's leopard print version – had stolen the momentum. Unsurprisingly it is an item that sits perfectly in the Venn diagram where the distinct styles of Delevingne and Chung meet.
Hunter wellingtons – a trend that debuted at Glastonbury. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Two days into the festival and in line with Glastonbury tradition a hair trend was already creeping stealthily across the site. The topknot, still ubiquitous on the streets of east London, has left its urban roots for rural Somerset. But another look was vying for styling supremacy: girls wearing their hair down but with the front section twisted or braided and pinned back at both sides. Once a hairstyle of schoolgirls, it has become acceptable for grown-up women to wear in recent months. As the festival moves up a gear it remains to be seen how well this look will fare. As with all break-out Glastonbury trends, it will have to prove itself in the face of the rain.
The article is from http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/jun/28/glastonbury-fashion-alexa-chung-cara-delevingne