By Korina Apodaca Cordova
When doing a simple Google search of “men’s rave wear” the following results pop up: iHeartRaves, Rave Wonderland, and Etsy. Even then, men’s rave clothes are limited mostly to graphic t-shirts and swim shorts. Upon further searching, Etsy seems to offer the widest variety of men’s rave clothes. Compared to women’s rave clothes, options are limited. I decided to have a fun little interview with members of the EDM community that I am friends with on Twitter.
A couple of people that I asked all gave the same response, “I’m boring. I only wear t-shirts and jeans”. Then, there were others who gave more detailed responses; First, I interviewed Anthony (@faustyyy__ on Twitter).
Colby: What do you typically wear to a rave?
Anthony: What I'm wearing largely depends on how I'm personally feeling and the music I'm going to be enjoying. I like to wear face masks and kandi that I create, that is very personal to me to trade away. I like to wear chokers, chains, harnesses, and leather at times when I feel comfortable showing off my body and the weather permits. Otherwise, I enjoy DJ jerseys, merch, my jean shorts, and sneakers.
C: What’s your favorite accessory or thing to wear?
A: My favorite accessories are definitely my chokers, chains, and kandi that I make. Face masks obviously, too. I want to start to create my own to sell and trade. That goes for perlers too.
C: Describe your style in 5 words.
A: If I had to choose some words to describe my style, I'd have to pick vibrant, seductive, raw, fierce, and alluring.
C: Say a brand is opening up a men’s rave clothing line and you can only choose 5 things they’d sell. What 5 things would you choose?
A: Harnesses, shorts, masks, button-up shirts, and pashminas
C: What do you want to see more of in men’s rave wear?
A: My personal style in rave wear goes back and forth between vibrant and colorful to dark and tantalizing. I am big into floral designs right now, both in rave wear and my everyday style. I like challenging the notion that men can't or shouldn't wear these patterns or colors that may cause others to question their sexuality. I have been growing more and more comfortable in my own skin, so I believe all guys should take pride in showing their figures off if they are comfortable and in the mood. The kind of rave wear that I want to purchase and wear keeps this in mind; I love all of the collared shirts I've been purchasing off Boohoo Man, but there are also times when I want to show off how powerful and sexy I feel by wearing leather, harnesses, and chokers that grab your attention and are not things we get to wear in everyday society. While I get that not everyone is that comfortable with their bodies, I tend to think men's rave wear is so limited right now because we don't have those kinds of options available to us. I really do not care to see more of the same generic sayings or graphic tees. Especially meme stuff tends to be more cringey than amusing to me. Less generic jerseys and sportswear at fests, and more designs that are out there and attention-grabbing without willfully violating the copyright of DJs trying to make a living. I feel like putting a rave spin to a recognizable cosplay outfit is an area with huge potential. I don't know that it will ever take off in popularity, but I feel like it's a great opportunity for men and women to stand out while putting a personal touch to their favorite characters from video games, anime, or fantasy in general. As well as an addendum. I feel like the BDSM side of ravewear could use some more colors other than black. I would totally rock some purple or red harnesses etc. Some neon clothing would be nice, and some futuristic punk/tech stuff would be amazing. I'm specifically thinking of some of the clothing seen in Love, Sex, and Robots on Netflix. But maybe I should just keep that to myself if I ever really feel like making a small rave wear company.
Next, I interviewed a friend also from Twitter who goes by EDM Christian Grey on the social media platform. I asked him the same questions.
Colby: What do you typically wear to a rave?
CG: I wear something I know I would be really comfortable in. If I wear something extravagant, but I’m not comfortable, then I would hate everything about it.
C: What’s your favorite accessory or thing to wear?
CG: I would say a flag. You can wave it, you can style it, and for those EDC winds, it helped cover me. I may not have it out all the time but I definitely really like walking around with one.
C: Describe your style in 5 words.
CG: Great question honestly. I’d say colorway, texture, comfort, elegance, and uniqueness.
C: What do you want to see more of in men’s rave wear? What do you want to see less of in men’s rave wear?
CG: Definitely more fashionable aspects and styles for men that are comfortable. I see a lot of these bomb outfits for women but rarely any for men and just having that would be incredible. I don’t know if there’s anything I want to see less of in men’s wear because everyone can dress how they want to dress while being respected and appreciated for whatever they choose to wear.
C: Do you think men's rave wear has limited options? Is there anything else you'd like to add?
CG: It really does have limited options. My friend just dropped a site to look for rave clothing called @RickandRaves. Men’s clothing would take off if some designers, especially women designers, started specializing in it.
The next and final person I interviewed goes by the name “Long-Haired Hippie Freak” on Twitter.
C: What do you typically wear to a rave?
LHHF: Typically, I wear shorts, converse, a fun t-shirt (either funny, tie-dye, or an artist shirt) and of course, my pash.
C: What’s your favorite accessory or thing to wear?
LHHF: The pash!! Gotta have it always, but outside of that I like wearing a pendant or kandi of some sort.
C: Describe your style in 5 words.
LHHF: Casual, comfortable, fun, wooky, and happy.
C: Say a brand is opening up a men’s rave clothing line and you can only choose 5 things they’d sell. What 5 things would you choose?
LHHF: Shirts, jerseys, hats, pashminas, and face masks.
C: What do you want to see more of in men’s rave wear? What do you want to see less of in men’s rave wear?
LHHF: I'd love to see different styles. Give me flowy shirts and crop tops instead of all t-shirts and tanks. I’d like to see less black and gray, and more colors would be nice.
I chose people who I believed to have different styles, so I could take a peek into men’s rave wear. As for women, it’s very different. I really enjoyed hearing from them and sharing what they had to say.