Agyness Deyn modelling House of Holland
The eighties are making a huge fashion comeback this summer, so we thought we'd take a look at where it all began, and how our style choices became influenced by the music of that period. This month we're looking at Rave...
If you've ever been to an all night party, rocking it with the masses and smearing various forms of face paint on your bodies, chances are you've been to a rave.
Neon, glow sticks and florescent clothing were of course the essential party wear for attending a rave, as people just liked to get lost in the music, the moment and in all likelihood the various substances on offer.
The rave scene always had its own fashion, and from the start people loved to experiment with tye dye, bright colours and smiley faced T-shirts, in a bid to stand out from the crowd.
Rave music had come to the forefront through the acid house phenomenon in the eighties, with the various forms of electronic dance music being slowly marred with indie rock beats.
The music was designed to induce high energy levels from the ravers, and was referred to in some cases as 'trance music' with various effects like loops and synthesizers used to reinforce this music type.
Ravers generally liked to dance the night away wearing comfortable, yet practical fashion, such as baggy trousers, bum bags and oversized neon T-shirts.
Things developed a little further by the early nineties to include boiler suits, white gloves, whistles and glow sticks, in addition to a new form of cyber clubber, who added fluffy leg warmers into the mix.
It was a youth culture who liked to let loose and be free, experimenting with whatever took their fancy, and in turn make a strong style statement, which was very much a two fingered salute at polite society.
Sexy hot pants, neon leggings and UV fabrics also became the height of popularity with the rave clubbers during this musical period, but sadly it was not to last as Brit Pop was on its way.
Rave quickly lost its momentum once Brit Pop took centre stage in the musical world, as bands like Oasis and Blur became the people to copy both musically and fashion wise.
The Spice Girls were a huge influence on fashion looks during the nineties too, as platform trainers, skin tight outfits and plenty of PVC became the fashion looks to champion.
Some would argue that it wasn't too far removed from the rave subculture, sported only years earlier and those that thought that genre was dead and gone, were in for a shock, as a new generation of rave was on its way...
Nu-Rave applies to a number of different musical styles today, fusing together electronica, rock and indie to techno, hip house, electro and break beat.
You can blame those peeps at NME for popularising the Nu-Rave name, but if you're wondering how glow sticks and masses of neon suddenly became the height of sophisticated fashion, we have but one man to blame; Henry Holland.
His House of Holland collection, coupled with his BFF's model status meant they both hit the big time together, and were the perfect faces for fashion's Nu-Rave.
We are of course talking about Henry's muse, Agyness Deyn who has championed the Nu-Rave look from the start and become associated with it too, thanks to her unique look.
Neon, slogan T-shirts and brightly coloured leggings are all associated with the Nu-Rave fashion revolution, and considering the original eighties looks are now hitting the high-street for the summer months, we think it's high time to break out the old whistles and glow sticks, don't you?
Check out the history of Rave Music here.
FemaleFirst- Laura Terry
Tagged in Agyness Deyn Henry Holland