Take one look at a modern festival and you’re going to see rave clothing that blows your mind and elicits feelings that you can’t help but associate with clubbing and having a good time. That doesn’t mean that the clothes you see are the same ones people have been wearing since raving made its way around the world to become a global phenomenon. In the same way that dance music has changed, the clothing has changed right along with it and this is a great time to look back on how it’s evolved.
You’re going to have a tough time picking out the clothing options that men and women chose back in the 90s and that isn’t a bad thing. Clothing should change just like the people wearing it and the music they’re listening to. Those phat pants and midriffs are a thing of the past because most people decided to get rid of the pants altogether and show a lot more skin when things heat up.
Functional Clothes
The simple fact is that 90s clothes were chosen because they were functional, and that’s about it when you get down to the reasons that people wore what they wore. Those phat pants were perfect for dancing because they were so big and floated out anytime the wearer twirled around. They also had deep pockets that were perfect for storing personal belongings the entire time you were at the festival.
Those, along with overalls, visors, smiley faces, midriffs, and boiler suits, were iconic in the 90s and early 2000s because of where the fashion got its roots. It all started in L.A. and the clothing people wore there heavily instructed the clothing worn at raves and festivals. There’s no denying the fact that hip-hop was a major factor in what people chose to wear all across the country and the world.
More 90s Fashion
The 1990s saw many different style shifts, with lots of them going strong for the entire decade and there’s one fashion trend that highlights the biggest pop culture of the time. Aliens were huge and people loved to dress up as them for many years with no real limits to how lifelike they liked to make it. It was easy to find people with alien masks and heads on their bodies while they made their way around the festivals.
This time also saw plenty of onesies for the women at the events and festivals and it wasn’t odd to come across a group of women in them with pacifiers in their mouths or around their necks. It was also a time when smiley faces could be found on anything you came across. There was a very popular t-shirt design with a large, yellow smiley face on the front that could be found on dozens of people at every event.
Cyber Style
This period also saw the advent of contrasting UV colors and neon, along with basic black to see a style that had never been realized before and it’s still associated with raves around the world. This style can still be seen in plenty of other media today and that’s a testament to how attractive it was. Games such as Watchdogs have many characters dressed in the cyber style that came about at raves.
This is also the time when Adidas shoes came into popularity at events and festivals. They’re both comfortable and stable which makes them perfect for skateboarding and dancing alike. It’s no surprise that they can still be found on the feet of many partiers.
2000s Fashion Evolution
Rave fashion went through another major evolution once 2008 hit and it saw the inclusion of both Kandi culture and furry accessories into the scene with many men and women being very open about their fondness for the furry lifestyle. These clothes came in bright pastels and lots of browns, depending on how realistic the people wearing them took their furry love. Any person could be found with a large, fluffy tail behind them and a pair of ears perched up on their heads for the entirety of the rave event.
Kandi culture is all about wearing brightly colored wristbands made of pony beads, and they were a very common sight in the 2000s whenever an event came to town with all the local rave fans attending. These bracelets are about much more than simply being worn, and they can be traded between the people at a rave, as a sign of PLUR. PLUR simply stands for peace, love, unity, and respect and is a sign of friendship between the two people trading them.
Risqué Outfits
The recent history of rave clothing has seen a dramatic shift in the risk that women take when they choose their outfits for any given festival or event. These women are much more likely to wear micro skirts and micro shorts that leave very little to the imaginations of anyone looking at them. These bottoms often have cutouts that give the viewers a look at everything they have underneath their clothes, leaving even less to their imaginations.
These outfits often pair with plunge bras, as well as samba bras which can often be used as the only top to go along with the risqué bottoms. These bras show off the woman’s cleavage and can often be replaced by the simple placement of pasties or sheer tops. They account for some of the riskiest fashion trends that anyone can find at a festival.
Basic Black
The current fashion of raves and festivals contains lots of basic blacks that have always proven to be a classic look for any fashion-conscious people. The clothing at modern-day festivals can often be found at a boutique clothing store and worn very comfortably.
No matter what your fashion happens to be, basic black is always a great option for your outfit. No matter what you wear, make sure you’re both comfortable in it as well as happy to be seen wearing it!
