THE REALITY OF A FESTIVAL IN KNEE DEEP MUD

It seems everyone had something to say about this years 20th edition splendour in the grass festival ~ from the good, to the bad and the ugly it truely wasn’t a festival for the faint.

A week out I decided / got forced to decide not to take my beloved kombi van on the trip east with me. It was a funny thing actually; we were 3 days out from the date we’d picked to begin the 24 hour drive when I turned to Kane to say ‘I have a really bad feeling about taking the kombi’. I’d just seen the tik toks of people making snow angels on the main streets of Byron and I was terrified of ruining my brand new pop top roof….again. Assuring me it would be fine, Kane took Dais down the coast to our friends at Good Times Garage for a service; pressing on with our preparations. I sent repetitive screenshots of flight options and prices to Kane all through the day before getting a call at 3 pm to say ‘I’m broke down on the side of the road, there’s something wrong with Daisy’. For once I wasn’t sad about my car troubles; I was elated that my intuition was right and my ego was feeling great about being able to say I told you so!

Flights were booked and we were on our merry way. Truth be told this was my first splendour in the grass.
I’d heard tales of a ‘splendour in the mud’ from years gone by and as an avid outfit planner well aware of the wet weather predictions I found myself on Pinterest searching ‘splendour in the mud fashion’ and zooming in on the footwear of all the attendees from SITG 2015; it surely can’t be that bad I naively told myself after spotting a couple influencers in Connie’s and lace up ankle boots between the 100 odd shots of people covered in mud wearing gumboots.

So on I pressed with packing my intended (and in hindsight inappropriate) boot choices.

There was some level of preparation which included the top priority creative outfits, cozy local accommodation and copious amounts of mi goreng + margarita ingredients (two festival essentials). unfortunately in my case this did not include the gold ticket item: gum boots.

DAY ONE

Festival day one rolled around after a night of torrential rain and a flurry or disturbing images and tales from our friends at the offical campsite; it was not looking good. Tents were in shambles and cars looked like boats… never had I ever been more grateful for the decision to fork out funds for an epic air bnb. Warm and excited with margaritas at the ready our crew decided to press on. We got dressed and ready for day one; me in my all white outfit!

It was semi a joke, I knew I couldn’t actually wear my embellished boots or long feather skirt through the mud; I just had to go through with at least the try on after all the effort I’d put in. It was at that point we got the text that day one had been cancelled.

Refusing to surrender the bender we got changed and attended a party in town before trying our luck at getting into a pub in Byron town… turns out we had the same idea as the other 30,000 attendees that no longer had a pig pen to play in.

Goose and I decided to give up and head back to the car to seek refuge from the rain. For some odd reason the car keys weren’t working. We assumed it was a problem with us and our drunken disorderliness and proceeded to try our luck at the door handles of this silver car anyway… the boot door unlocked…We climbed in and shut the door before receiving a call from kane; ‘where are you, we are at the car and need the keys’ he said, to which I responded “we are in the car… in the boot… Lucy has just climbed over the seats to open the front door” to which Kane replied “you are not in the car”. At the same time a concerned young man ran over from the line of the pub after seeing lanky limbs flailing inside his supposedly locked car. Kane walked a couple cars across to find us too. Luckily this man was a chilled out legend who laughed it off with us and helped us out the car and into our own.

The night was called and we went home.

DAY TWO

*Film image by* *Kane Overall* *- shot on Mamiya, porta 400*

Being dressed in one of my favourite brands for the occasion was a dream come true! On day two and three I wore upcoming styles from spell new collection ‘madame peacock’ and attended the festival grounds with an equal parts grateful, proud and excited spring in my step.

Day two I embodied a snake charmer wearing the spell 1985 shirt dress in honeycomb layered over the matching tri-bralette and bloomer set! This outfit was originally supposed to be layered with a gold fringe, floor length dress that I had hand made in March; but after seeing all the mud I made the executive decision to swap my tassels for duct tape and keep my dress short!

I ditched the gold dress and wore a bunch of belts that I found in my grandmas closet with some beautiful hand beaded jewellery that she had collected from a designer in Vietnam. The look was complete with a crown, vintage silk scarf and sparkly stockings.(as well as my backpack which contained a rain jacket and thermals)

My tan $30 op-shop boots were draped in garbage bags and electrical taped to the max; the idea being that if my feet were dry I would be happy.

We visited the Spell Saloon which featured the most beautiful blooms and vintage truck!

*Third image above by* *Ashleigh Bakos* *for* *Spell*

Thankfully it worked! However I didn’t account for how much wearing heels while wading through shin deep mud would hurt!

I left the festival at 10.30PM And seamlessly got onto a bus before the rush! A silver lining to missing out on seeing the strokes.
My favourite artist from this day was Violent Soho and Cosmos Midnight!

Dancing with my crew on the grassy hill behind the amphitheater was a festival highlight!

DAY THREE

Day three kicked off with ginger beers, spinach pizza and hash browns for breakfast… i think that summarises the way we were feeling.

After our tummies settled I got ready in my third and final festival fit!

The look was styled around the spell madame peacock button through gown in the most beautiful emerald green. I wore this open over a vintage lace bra and paisley shorts found on depop. I layered copious amounts of thrifted beads and gold necklaces with a collection of my favourite western style leather belts and fringe vest.

We hit the festival in the early afternoon to attend the Spell ranch party at the tackle shack. Here we were graced with beautiful tunes and yummy snacks! it was so cool to meet some of my favourite creators and have a cocktail with my festival crew!

After the party I watched the sunset at the amphitheater and shot some golden hour snaps with queen Mel Carrero for spell!
I was joined in these by beauties jëssica vandër lëahy and Sarah (Salty Luxe); two very inspiring women who are just beautiful inside and out.
(you will notice those pics scattered throughout this blog.. I love them and was so grateful to have them taken)

Images by Mel Carrero for Spell

My favourite artists who played this day were Mura Masa and North East Party House!

All in all trudging through mud hurt parts of my legs and body I didn’t know possible.

We danced all night and made the most of our time at the festival! If I went again I’d definitely fork out the extra money for a VIP ticket because the drinks lines were LONG.

I think if you’re with the right people you can have fun anywhere!

I feel so grateful to have enjoyed my splendour 2022 with the most amazing crew!