For a lot of Mancs, Parklife is the biggest weekend – and the liveliest party – of the entire year, and it’s one that requires you to pull out all the fashion stops.
It’s a chance to get dressed up to the nines, unwind in the sunshine (or rain), see some incredible live music and dance until your feet ache.
Many people heading to the festival spend hours and even days getting ready, and as the years have gone on, the fashions on site have become more and more bold and colourful.
The trends have moved on a long way from the days of denim shorts and band tees.
Now you’re more likely to catch people walking around in neon bikinis, colourful flares, and sparkling mini dresses.
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Though we can’t imagine we’ll ever lose the sea of bucket hats from this very Manc event…
Here are some of our favourite looks and fashion trends we’ve seen at Parklife 2023.
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Bright colours
Look, if you can’t wear your neon patterned unitard at Parklife, where can you!?
It always seems like the perfect weekend to embrace all things neon, from the hot pink one-pieces to neon socks to even bright orange combat boots.
We’re particularly loving all the thrifted finds this year.
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Novelty hats
How to make sure you can find your mates in a crowd 101 – make them all wear the same novelty hat.
We’ve spotted a lot of great headwear walking around Heaton Park this weekend, but this little army of matching sombreros is pretty special.
And how could we forget those golden arches cowboy hats…?
Bikini tops
It’s a festival trend as old as time – colourful bikini tops chucked on with the rest of your festival ‘fit.
We’ve loved seeing so much colour and creative combos walking around Heaton Park all weekend.
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And I bet these came in handy when everyone got soaked through this afternoon…
Ponchos and other improvised waterproofs
Nothing takes the shine off your festival outfit quite like a torrential downpour, and we got hit HARD by rain on Sunday afternoon.
The storm that saw the festival momentarily halted due to lightning risks gave Parklife-goers a thorough soaking, with some hastily adjusted outfits appearing to try and stay dry.
From bin bags ripped in to ponchos, to broken umbrellas held overhead like a blanket, to a cardboard box on a head, Mancs thought of everything.
This guy…
Did we ask this man to strip off? No. Could we stop him? Also no.
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But what better way to embody the free spirit of a festival than by stripping down to your kecks?!
We loved his original 90s-printed cycle shorts almost as much as we loved his shiny purple briefs, to be honest.
Clashing prints and bold accessories
We’ve found them – the two coolest people at Parklife 2023.
While you spend a lot of the day playing spot-the-difference with the waves of outfits purchased from Shein or PLT, this pair really stood out from the crowd with their colourful choice of accessories.
10/10, no amends.
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Pink EVERYTHING
The pink fluffy cowboy hat is now a festival and summer gig staple – you see droves of them heading into gigs like Harry Styles and Beyonce every summer.
We’re really enjoying how much the Parklife crew have embraced the matching pink outfits though, with this lot all marching around in top-to-toe pink ‘fits.
Stunning huns.
Cargo pants
This has been the year where teeny tiny shorts have started to be phased out in favour of proper utility wear.
Sturdy, comfortable, and seriously stylish when paired with crop tops and bold colours, there’s been masses of cargo shorts walking around Parklife this year.
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Matchy-matchy with your bestie
For a lot of Parklife-goers, getting ready is part of the fun with it. You crack open a drink, slap on your makeup, make TikToks and compare outfits.
So we’ve loved seeing all the coordinated outfits friends have been rocking this year.
Manchester City finally release special Year of the Horse collection for Lunar celebrations
Danny Jones
Manchester City have officially launched their new ‘Year of the Horse’ kit, along with several other items in their latest lifestyle range.
The collection, which has been released as part of the Lunar New Year Celebrations, was leaked online in late 2025 before being officially teased earlier this year, but now Man City have fully unveiled the limited edition clothing items.
It follows the commercial success of their previous Chinese New Year-inspired kits and wider fashion lines over the last few seasons.
For anyone not up to speed on their Zodiac calendar knowledge, 2026 is officially (you guessed it) the year of the horse, hence this choice for the new ‘Capsule Collection’.
“Set in earthy, neutral tones, the limited-edition Year of the Horse Capsule Collection captures both the stillness of vintage Chinese portraiture and the motion of a team in full stride.”
Revolving around a grey and almost beige colour palette, the full drop includes a new pre-match ‘Anthem’ jacket, a dark graphic design tee, a baseball cap, as well as a soft horse plushie.
The focal point, however, is obviously the jersey itself – though it remains to be confirmed whether or not the special seasonal strip will be worn in any games this campaign as other one-off/special limited edition shirts have been in the past.
The price points range from £15 for the soft toy to £90 for the adult shirt, with the aforementioned Puma KING Anthem zip-up jacket already available in six colours.
What do you make of the latest lifestyle collection, Blues?
Somewhat fittingly, the Year of the Horse and other items finally debuted on the same day that their local rivals across the other side of town, Manchester United, released some new threads of their own: the second Adidas x The Stone Roses collection.
As for this years Lunar celebrations, the official plans for here in Manchester city centre have now been revealed. You can find out more down below.
Manchester United officially launch second Adidas fashion collab with The Stone Roses
Danny Jones
After several weeks of teasers, the latest fashion collab between Adidas, Manchester United and The Stone Roses has officially revealed.
We have no doubt this one will be lapped up just as quickly as the first.
Following images of the new Stone Roses x Man United kit and the focal point of this new collection being leaked online earlier this month, the second drop by Adidas has now been unveiled in full.
Releasing another stylistic video to the tune of the legendary Manc band’s famous anthem, ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, players both past and present from the men’s and women’s team star in the launch video.
As you can see, not only did the players get involved with the shoot as expected, but the clip also includes a snippet of archive footage featuring a young Ian Brown in a short but profound talking head.
The Stone Roses frontman, and indeed other members of the band, have never made their love of United a secret – none more so than the late, great Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield – and the supporters have also shared plenty of it back.
Be it through ‘This Is The One’ being chosen by Gary Neville as the official walk-out song at Old Trafford and various chants sung to Stone Roses tunes, to the previous collab back in February 2024, the two iconic cultural brands pretty much go hand in hand.
Besides the next multi-coloured paint-splashed shirt, which leaked first, as well as a new bucket hat (again, very era appropriate), there are scarves, a graphic design t-shirt, two sets of shorts and even two different pairs of shoes.
Images of the white Stone Roses trainers also popped up in leaks across various Man United fan accounts on social media, but few had seen the black ZX 600 Adidas trainers until now.
What do you make of the latest batch of lifestyle fashion from the club?
Meanwhile, with just days left in the transfer window, it remains to be seen whether new interim manager Michael Carrick will be rewarded for his first two wins against the top two in the league with any reinforcements before the end of January – but there are some rumblings…
Daisy Jackson -
11th June 2023 
