EDM/Dance Column

With Niamh McCool

Anonymous Raver – Fashion in the Contemporary Canberra Rave Scene

Historically, fashion and music have been referential to one another. Certain music scenes have their own unique styles and the Canberra rave scene is no different.

It’s pretty difficult to talk accurately about the fashion/style of a place and/or scene; for one its not homogenised. For the sake of ease of writing, I’m going to make some broad statements, but in no way is this a definitive analysis on Canberra rave style, nor is it a rule book on how to dress.

Three things I’ve picked up on is the cold and how the weather effects how you dress; neon futurist styles; and irony.

The Anonymous Raver, replete with trendy balaclava

So what is unique to the Canberra fashion scene? Well, the freezing weather definitely affects the way you dress. There are some brave souls (or soles, if we’re talking footwear) who try and ignore the cold for the sake of an outfit.

I’ve done this. I don’t advise it.

When you embrace wrapping up, it can become a cool chance [LULZ - Bossman Sko] to play with interesting cold weather styles. Balaclavas, for example, I’ve seen popping up on chilly dance floors. They keep your head, ears and sides of your face warm while adding some extra texture and character to your look. It can either be cute and silly, or more serious. I advice open-face style because it’s warm but your face is uncovered. You can DIY a balaclava by wearing a beanie and wrapping a scarf around your head and neck.

As mentioned before, music and fashion have always been in conversation with one another. A great example of this is the 1995 movie Hackers. Both the soundtrack and the costume design perfectly work together to convey the overall aesthetic of bright technological optimism and a sense of living in the “future”.

The Hackers wardrobe would absolutely fit in at a rave right now. I’ve seen plenty of neon coloured “futuristic fabrics” like spandex, neonprint and 3m on the dancefloor. Bright, graphic make-up, sleek sunglasses, big chunky sneakers, reflective ‘metal’ like materials are common in dance music spaces. These styles are referential to the digitalisation of music.

A staple of the rave fashion and contemporary fashion in general is irony. But the kind of 2021 irony of finding something both hilarious and the coolest thing ever at the same time. I think humour is something that doesn’t get acknowledged enough. Being able to

Hackers - a rave tailor in film form

make someone laugh from your clothing choice is a particular skill; likewise with music. I think the trend to ironic and humours styles in fashion is reflected in the rise of more ‘silly’ and light hearted music, like UK Bounce, Donk and meme music.

So now that you’ve thought about style a bit, where in Canberra can you show off your amazing outfits?

At Sideway Bar on Saturday, 17 April there is It’s a London Thing 6.0 featuring Killjoy from the UK and Mincy from Sydney. Should be a fun grime-filled night.

The following night at Sideway - Sunday, 18 April - is High Society, which is a free live hip hop event.

At One22, Harvey Sutherland is DJing on the Easter Sunday, 4 April supported by SONDRIO, Amando, Izaak Bink and Mia Sorlie and Wally. You can expected a broad range of genres: disco, funk, electronic, and house.

Over at Fiction there’s trance music with Australian artist MaRLo on the public holiday eve (again, Sunday, 4 April). And on Friday, 16 April there is FEEL featuring Sippy and Blackjack for your dubstep, trap, garage and drum ‘n’ bass kicks.

That’s all for this month. Stay trendy!