Anyone in earshot of Laneway Festival would dispute MetService's suggestion that the temperature didn't rise above 25C on Tuesday. It was barely 2pm when people in the crowd could be seen resting their baguette handbags on top of their heads – a feeble attempt to shield their hair parting from the beating rays. 

Others came marginally better prepared in terms of UV protection: walking into the grounds we spotted no less than three Benjamin Alexander logo caps. 24 hours after Billie Eilish wore a headscarf to perform at the Grammys, the fashion on the field at Western Springs followed suit. Across the arid pitch slinky silk scarves, floaty sheer pashminas and even the odd flag got draped over heads and wrapped around necks. 

The festival's wide appeal was most clearly displayed in the eclectic fashion choices. Football style shirts made it difficult to discern punters from security guards. Blondshell singer Sabrina Teitelbaum took to the stage to entertain hardcore and newly won fans wearing a worn in Adidas t-shirt that matched the sneakers of many in the crowd. 

Underfoot elsewhere, every imaginable iteration of Dr Martens got paired with dainty socks and more than one reveler was spotted hobbling between stages, cowboy boots in hand, hours before the sun faded below the MOTAT boundary. 

Should an alien have dropped onto the outer fields, they'd have got the impression the only bottoms permitted in Aotearoa are jorts, and that one outfit in every friend group was legally required to accessorise with some form of bow. 

But that's the appeal of festival fashion: anything goes. Even if one group of millennial attendees were overheard baulking at the return of some Y2K fashions: "I can handle the low cut jeans, but the boho disc belts!?"

Abigail Dell'Avo and her camera were there battling the sun to capture this ensemble of the great looks at Laneway Festival 2024. - Tyson Beckett