Autumn to Spring, Chloe Windsor is a textiles student. But when summer comes, Chloe leaves this persona behind, defrosts, and is reborn into her true self, an avid festival goer. The second year Central Saint Martin’s student has lived through, and most importantly survived, many of festivals in her 21 years earth side. However, her title of “festival professional” was self earnt (the hard way) and took years to perfect. Now, the whole experience is second nature to her.

Luckily for us, Windsor sits down with Shift and shares her six festival survival items. With the summer months hastily approaching, we thank you.

Sewing Kit

Firstly, Windsor insists a pocket sized sewing kit is at the top of the list, and while very on brand for a textiles student, I’m sure we have all shared the universal experience of a fashion emergency desperately wishing we had one to spare. She shared that she had a bad rip while in a mosh pit once and since then vowed to herself to never be without. Your future self is already thanking you.

Raincoat

“I have learnt to never trust the weather forecast, it’s England, this is not new information. If the weather app is predicting a heat wave, still take your rain mac, please,” she said. And vice versa applies, always remember to have outfit options and heat protection. Fortunately, a raincoat does not have to completely ruin the look, a cool vintage one can add to the festival aesthetic, not take away. And as Windsor pointed out, it’s England, you most likely will not be wearing it for long with a weather change roughly every 10 minutes.

Suncream stick

Sun cream, although necessary (especially when you are planning to be outside for 22 hours of the day) is a nightmare. Windsor’s favourite invention is a sun cream stick; it takes away all the mess and encourages frequent application. “It will become your best friend,” she said. Work smarter not harder.

Boots

Boots are an everyday essential and a festival is no exception. “They’re just so comfy and elevate every outfit I wear. Also, I love my boots so much I don’t think I could be apart from them for that long,” said Windsor. Think Kate Moss Glastonbury 2005  and pair these Steve Madden boots with a sparkly mini dress. They’re the little black dress of footwear.

Fanny pack

Although this might seem like an oxymoron, a fashion student advising you to buy a fanny pack, it is (unfortunately) a festival essential. With many events being the hotspot for theft, Windsor said she has seen many of her friends fall victim to this. Some festival thieves break into people’s tents in the night to steal items while you sleep. Enter the fanny pack. Your saving grace. To combat the thefts, Windsor always sleeps wearing her fanny pack. “I keep the important stuff on me while I sleep to avoid it being taken, and yes, the sewing kit remains in there too.” Priorities.

Cowboy hat

The claim is cowboy hats are in trend, but really, they never left. “A hat is the best thing ever when at a festival, especially if in heat waves. And the hat of choice is a no brainer; a cowboy hat,” she said. Wear your hat with a denim mini skirt, crochet top, and you guessed it… cowboy boots. Living our western dreams.

“When I first started going to festivals, I was 14 and thinking about how many avoidable disasters I could have ignored if I had this checklist is a bitter feeling, but it’s all character development,” said Windsor with a laugh.