With summer in full swing the festival season is most definitely upon us!

The big highlights left for us this summer are the Leeds and Reading Festivals, days of mayhem and madness that are sure to be full of surprises. When attending a festival, the bag or bags you take with you turn into the most important objects you own. For those few days, you are literally carrying your life around in your bag – so make sure it’s a good one.

The bag you carry around with you during the festival will not be the bag you carry all your stuff in – that’ll be ideally a heavy duty backpack with clothes etc that you will leave in your tent. Although guys don’t often carry bags, most girls will want a bag with them 24/7 to hold their money, phone and other essential items. The perfect festival bag is practical, disposable and additionally acts as a bold statement of your identity.

For maximum security, you may want to get a bag that fastens around you, like a bum bag or an across the body bag. Although these are not the height of fashion, they will keep your belongings safe and also keep your hands free so you can hold a burger, a beer or just dance. Bags that hang over the shoulder are easier for thieves to rip from you, but if you’re not going to be out in the crowds much it’s a plausible option. Bags that fasten around your body have an added bonus – you can sleep with them on, protecting you in your tent when potential thieves might be looking for something to nick.

Whatever style of bag you choose; multiple pockets are an absolute necessity. Not only do they give you more room to stow your stuff away in, but you can distribute your possessions among the pockets. This means that if a thief does manage to get his hand in one, you lose the minimum. Your most precious valuables should be kept in a secure zipped pocket in the inside of the bag.

If you’re going to be carrying your phone, or anything you don’t want to get wet in your bag with you, a waterproof bag is a great idea. Festivals are famous for heavy rain and mud, and you don’t want your stuff getting soaked and ruined. If you choose not to opt for a waterproof bag, make sure to take carrier bags with you in case you need to stow stuff where it will definitely stay dry.

The bag you take to any festival, face it, is probably not going to last. Three of the key components of a festival, aside from the music of course, are mud, rain and beer. Your bag is probably going to get covered in all three, so don’t go spending all your cash on something designer and expensive. You want something pocket friendly and essentially disposable – something that will look good at the festival but that you won’t cry over losing.

What's the story, alligator?

Did you know that originally, the classic Polo shirt was actually called a Tennis shirt? Back in the beginning of the sport, the traditional tennis whites were rather formal, until René Lacoste, the French 7-time Grand Slam tennis champion, decided that the stiff tennis attire was too cumbersome and uncomfortable and got to work and came up with something a little more loose.

Then polo players, who also were stuck in uncomfortable clothes on the field, became aware of Lacoste's invention in the thirties and quickly adopted it for use in polo. In 1972, Ralph Lauren introduced his "polo shirt" as a prominent part of his fashion line called Polo, fixing in people's mind what a polo shirt was and poularising the polo player logo, even though he didn't invent it.

Credit for that goes to Lewis Lacey, an Argentine-Irish haberdasher and polo player, who was first to embroider shirts with the logo of a polo player, a design originated at the Hurlingham Polo Club near Buenos Aires. Now the shirt can be found in every sport, and made by every manufacturer, and here's the story behind four icon brands.

Lacoste, The Alligator

As mentioned, this brand was founded by Rene Lacoste, a French tennis star who stole the Davis Cup away from the Americans in 1927. He was nicknamed "the Alligator" after winning a bet of a crocodile-skin suitcase.

Later, a drawing of the amphibian was presented to him, and he liked it so much he had it embroidered onto a blazer that he wore on the courts. The alligator is often claimed to be the first logo to be made visible on the outside of a garment.

Ralph Lauren The polo player

Although Ralph Lauren started his business in 1967 (he was selling ties!), it was not until 1972 that the first mesh Polo shirt with the polo player logo appeared. It came in 24 colours and quickly became known as an American classic.

Lauren has always preferred the preppy side of menswear. To him, polo as a game reflects grace and elegance, and he wanted these qualities to embody the Ralph Lauren Polo lifestyle.

Hang Ten A pair of feet

In the 60's, a surfer dude called Duke Boyd designed what was believed to be the first board shorts. He named them after a difficult surfing manoeuvre, the 'hang ten', which essentially means what it says - you hang all 10 toes over the nose of the surfboard.

A pair of golden feet was discreetly embroidered at the hem of the trunks. The brand came to symbolise the carefree Californian beach culture.

Fred Perry The laurel wreath

This tennis champion was another star to create a brand. This was during '30s England, when the young and dashing Fred Perry became the first Englishman to win the singles title at Wimbledon.

The natty dresser soon sold shirts marketed under his name. The logo of a laurel wreath was selected, but could only be used only after a signed approval by the powerful All England Club and Wimbledon!
Add a comment

Our reporter braves a shot of Botox...

Read more: Minor Renovations