Your Step-By-Step Guide To Dressing For A Rave In 2023

What is "cool" these days? The TikTok-ification of edgy aesthetics makes it hard to know what people in the underground scene are actually wearing, so the crowd is rebelling by pushing the limits further and further away from the mainstream.

Take a rave, for example. After ending up at an abandoned cinema last weekend and not knowing exactly what I was signing up for, I found myself sticking out like a sore thumb. However, my inner ethnographer came out to play, picking up on what the ravers were wearing alongside their slicked back hair, belly button piercings and bleached brows.

Thankfully, a lot of the goods can be thrifted or found in the wardrobes of a daggy older relative, but also outsourced from under-the-radar brands and their more popular counterparts. Whether you find yourself at a warehouse, a doof or an underground bunker, here's how to dip your toe into rave subculture.