It’s happening. After a quick message to my friends checking if they still want tickets, and a short battle with the Ticketmaster waiting room, I have tickets for Tate McRae’s tour in summer. I hit buy and the first ‘concert-logistics’ thought pops into my head: What should I wear?
What outfit can I create that will fit the Tate McRae vibe, and instantly make strangers on the train google ‘who is playing in Manchester tonight’. It has to be cool, concert-worthy and something the girls and I can get a great Insta pic in. I didn’t think about transport logistics, or which songs I wanted to hear the most, or even the fact I had just dropped £70 with potentially too much ease. My thoughts were vain, they’re shallow, they’re OTT.
They’re SO exciting.
Concerts haven’t always been this way. Not to me anyway. The first major concert I went to was a Little Mix concert in 2013, when I was 10. I went in plain black leggings and a simple top, that I changed out of immediately once I bought my Salute Tour tee from the merch stand. A top that I own with pride to this day. Admittedly, I was 10, but this formula and style had been the motive for me with all following concerts, up until very recently.
There’s been a cultural shift in concert lifestyle; if you’re planning on going in jeans and a tee these days, even if you are 10, you haven’t planned well enough.
Sasha Ridge, fashion influencer and DIY outfit maker from Oxford, also referenced to Little Mix, stating her older outfits weren’t particularly special: “I made a little mix t-shirt dress that was literally an oversized black tshirt, with the words ‘Little mix Confetti Tour’, made from glue and glitter. And I was beyond proud of my masterpiece.”
Only a few years after her simple creations, Sasha gained over 500k views on a video of her recreating Taylor Swift’s ‘Lover’ bodysuit from scratch, for a follower in Australia. She now has over 60k followers on TikTok, an audience that has been predominantly grown from her DIY concert outfit videos. And trust me, they are a step up from glitter glue and merch.
“My favourite outfit was my Tortured Poets Department bodysuit. I think the main reason why I love it is because I was obviously inspired by Taylor’s Lover bodysuit, but I made it into my own by incorporating elements of my own choosing, and using colours from a different album to create a brand new piece that I knew nobody else would be wearing.”
Sasha hasn’t just made outfits for the Taylor Swift, but has had viral videos with outfit inspo for Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams and Olivia Rodrigo, because this trend certainly didn’t start, or end with the Eras Tour.
There was usually at least one DIY creation within an audience, but never such a stylish crowd you could find your way to the stadium by following the feathers. Edinburgh was left looking like a herd of pink chickens had attacked the city after my Harry Styles, Love on Tour show in 2022, which was the first time I had seen this trend on such a large scale.
Sasha said: “I first remember seeing people dressing up for shows for Love on Tour, and I think because Taylor has a similar fanbase to Harry, the trend of dressing up for concerts naturally followed suit for the Eras tour and kept going from there.”
However, to say that large trends of attendees fitting a certain style for music events has never been a thing, would be a complete lie, but social media has been a key factor in boosting this trend. From creators like Sasha sharing the journey of their creations from start to finish, to the everyday fan being able to post their chosen outfit on Instagram to their peers. These fashion takeovers started in other pockets of pop culture and the music scene, most famously, the unmistakable Coachella BoHo style.
Dr Kyser Lough, a researcher and journalist from the University of Georgia, Atlanta, conducted a study looking into the self-presentation of Coachella attendees through their posts on Instagram, titled: “Two days, twenty outfits: Coachella attendees’ visual presentation of self and experience on Instagram.”
He said: “I certainly didn’t expect there to be so few posts of the music until I started looking. It was more than just look at where we are. It was look at who I’m with, look at what I’m wearing and, and how I’m wearing it.
“A sense of taste was really interesting, to see the way that fashion was displayed full body. I thought there would be more selfies until I realized, well, with a selfie, you can’t really get the full outfit.
“Just like most social media, posting these outfits serves multiple purposes. It’s a record of things, but it’s also trying to build one’s self-presentation, and self-branding of ‘look at the kind of person I am, I’m enjoying music, I go to these concerts, I’m cool.”
We want to show our best selves at these concerts; show people that we are there with our lifelong friends, appeal to followers who may like the same artists, and show everyone a glimpse of our personality, because we picked reputation as our era.
Self-presentation and bragging should not be confused, and for Sasha, creating concert outfits is about that. Creativity.
Sasha said: “I went to a few Taylor Swift shows, and not once did I think I’d be showing off in any way. I worked hard on my costumes, but I was proud, not showing off.
“As an adult, I feel as though you don’t really get many creative outlets when you have a 9-5. In my eyes, the benefit of making my outfit is having that outlet, something to do when I’m sitting watching tv after work instead of doom scrolling on my phone.”
The benefits to creativity can mean more than just a simple hobby. Not only does it allow you to look amazing, but you can feel your most comfortable and achieve exactly what you want to present at the concert.
“For me, ensuring I have an outfit that fits me and I feel confident in is so important. I find a lot of places only cater to specific body types and those that aren’t catered for have to wear something they don’t like, or doesn’t quite fit, whereas this way, I know I’m going to like my outfit.
“I got my niece tickets to see Taylor, but everything she wanted to wear was a bit too grown up for her, but everything that fit her was a bit too young, because she was 11. She wanted to get involved but still had to stay appropriate. I promised to make us matching outfits for the show.”
Sasha, through just a simple act of creativity and passion, was able to get her niece involved in the concert festivities and in the process, highlighted the connections something as simple as concert outfits can build.
Dr Lough said: “At the most basic level, you’ve put a lot of time and money and thought into your outfit and into going there.
“It might not be necessarily fully representative of who we are, but it’s a persona that we are trying to present to the world as this is us or this is part of us.”
The art of the persona may be key to the fashion we’re seeing. Even in shows where the artists style isn’t as strong, an element of branding can be seen in the audience: Gracie Abrams and Niall Horan shows became cardigan and bow festivals, and even at a Pitbull show, a sea of bald caps, sunglasses and suits took over the O2. If Pitbull’s iconic look can inspire an arena full of people, it show anyone can get involved in the concert fashion lifestyle. It may involve glitter and bright colours, but sometimes all that is needed is a strong presence from the artist and a style that gets fans excited.
Sasha said: “Artists like Taylor, Harry and Sabrina all have a very obvious aesthetic and they dress almost as a character. Taylor and Harry especially have been around for long enough that they have a lot of iconic looks that you are able to take inspiration from and recreate or put your own spin on things.”
Sasha added: “Artists like Chappel Roan I feel are going to be huge for this in future when she tours, as her looks and branding are iconic, and her fans love that about her.”
Dr Lough said: “I think a lot of it relies on the size, structure and impact of the event. And so, thinking about someone like Taylor Swift, it’s much more than the music. It’s this entire kind of culture and community that she’s built.”
‘Culture and community’ is what has been at the core of these outfits from the beginning. We are absolutely trying to present ourselves in a certain way, and maybe we’re trying to prove that we were there, in the stadium, having a great time. But when we as fans resonate with an artist’s style, and their self-presentation, it’s fun and inspiring to take your own spin on that character. Yes, it’s extra, it’s vain, some may even say it’s silly. But I don’t think it’s going anywhere. With each artist that announces a tour, fans get ever more creative and excited, bringing together fan culture in the most beautifully obnoxious way possible.
So, I’m off to find my Tate McRae outfit, and you will probably find me showing off my final look on Instagram, hopefully making it clear to the stranger on the train that I am in fact seeing Tate tonight.
You can see more from Sasha on her Tiktok page here.
You can see more information from Dr Lough on his website here.
