Styling for a festival is deceptively hard. I know I always imagine myself looking like something akin to Alexa Chung or Chloe Sevigny jaunting through a field, but more often than not I end up looking like I've been thrown up by a log flume thanks to the great British weather. Festival fashion is all about striking a balance between practicality and style, hats to cover up your tent-hair, outerwear that can double up as a blanket. I know this and yet, I still always seem to pack like I'm heading off to a festival in a 5* hotel in Spain - (what can I say, I'm an optimist if nothing else!)

This year however, I have the prospect of a summer full of festivals in my horizon and I'm eager not to make the same mistakes. I needed some serious advice, so I turned to fellow blogger and stylist extraordinaire Teresa Collenette (@crazyscissorgal). We spent morning amongst the rails at the Westbourne Grove boutique [link to boutiques page http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/local-shops/oxfam-boutiques] and up to our knees in belts, bags and shoes to find what we think are some of this year's essential looks.  Some are based on this year's big trends, others to show of some of the more individual pieces we found in the shop that day, because lets face it - that's the beauty of second-hand clothing.

1. Techicolour: block brights are still a big thing this summer -  think jade, vibrant fushia and vivid yellow. 2. Mixed prints: for a more understated take on this trend, team together prints in the same colour palette, we LOVED this Hawaiian print shirt. 3. Couldn't resist the charms of this micro-mini towel dress, we teamed it with a wide-brimmed straw hat (a look I loved on the ASHISH last year)

4. Why wear a regular beanie when you can use an Egyptian headdress to cover up your less than fresh festival hair? Festival dress is fancy dress. 5. Florals: Think back to the catwalks of Erdem and Christopher Kane, florals for SS12 have changed and this long subdued floral print coat is a perfect example of how we should be doing flowers this summer. 6. We loved the bold print on this unusual maxi dress, such a statement piece we toned it down with simple black accessories.

What I've shown you today was just the tip of the iceberg of what we found at Westbourne, check out the online shop for more fresh threads (LINK to festival picks http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/features/festival-fashion-2012?;intcmp=shop_home_hero1_festival_fashion_20120524 ), or pop into your local Oxfam and have a hunt (LINK to shop finder http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/local-shops) who knows what treasure you might find.

 (some fabulous jumpers we didn't have time to work into our mini photo shoot, but a festival essential none the less!)

Didn't Teresa do a great job? Trust me, that lady is bad news for my bank balance. I loved everything she dressed me in, but I'd like to know what you love -leave your thoughts in a comment below and tell me which is your favourite look!