How to dress for a rave: the wardrobe that survives the night

Dressing for a rave isn't really about style. Well, not only. It's mostly about survival. You head out to a free party knowing when you arrive but never when you'll leave. It's going to get cold, there's going to be mud, your clothes are going to take a beating.

Before the night: the crew, the van, the dog.

You don't dress for a rave like a night out

At a club, you're warm, you drop your jacket at the cloakroom, you go home by taxi. At a free party, none of that exists.

• It's cold at night, even in summer, especially in a field or a forest.
• Mud, dust, possible rain. Your clothes are going to take a hit.
• You stay on your feet and moving for hours. Anything that squeezes becomes hell.
• No cloakroom: whatever you're wearing, you keep it all night.

The basic rules of rave wardrobe

• Layer up. T-shirt, sweatshirt, hooded jacket. Take off/put back on depending on the sound and the cold.
• Keep it dark. Black hides the mud and works everywhere.
• Fabrics that hold up. Thick cotton, heavy fleece.
• Hood mandatory. Wind, light rain, early morning sun.
• Closed, solid shoes. No flimsy canvas.
• Hands free. Bum bag or shoulder pouch.

Black that works everywhere, the print that stands out.

Why black dominates

Go to a rave, look around: an ocean of black. Discreet, it hides mud and wear, it's timeless, and it makes graphics pop. A white line on a black background, that's the whole aesthetic of the scene. We dug into the topic separately.

Rave graphic design

• Tribal and hypnotic patterns, inherited from sound system tarps.
• Hardtek, gabber, frenchcore imagery: aggressive typography, dark humor.
• The psychedelic and occult aesthetic: spirals, symbols.
• Detournement: logos parodied through an underground filter.

At Etilik, every visual is designed in collab with an artist or a sound system, and printed by hand in our workshop in Istres since 2010.

What to put in your bag

• Water. Vital when you're dancing for hours.
• Earplugs. The wall of sound hits hard and long.
• A spare dry layer in a waterproof bag.
• A light. Night out in nature is properly dark.

Rave or free party: do you dress the same?

A free party (or teuf, same thing) is free and self-organized. A rave (or techno night in an unusual venue) is paid and organized. When it comes to outfit, the survival logic stays the same as soon as it's outdoors and it lasts.

Have a good rave, and come back in one piece.