The Electronic Daisy Carnival (EDC) is one of the largest rave festivals in the world. The rave community is known for being accepting of all people no matter how you identify. Ravers from all over the world come together to dance, listen to music, exchange bracelets, do drugs, and show off their killer outfits. When it comes to fashion choices, “less is more” is a philosophy ravers live by. This is not only because raves are hot and sweaty, but raves are a safe place where people feel comfortable showing a little more skin and expressing themselves.
Flower Power
Hearing the “untz, untz, untz” of the festival as I walked in, the first outfit of the night caught my eye. Brandi was wearing a gorgeous LED, light-up, bedazzled, daisy-carnival bra from Magical Wonderland. She was wearing matching daisy-printed bottoms, and white leather garters on each thigh. Light-up clothing is pretty common for ravers due to the amount of people on drugs at the festival. Seeing pretty light that dance when you’re rolling in the crowd is always a nice feeling. Those who aren’t familiar with rave culture may not understand the practicality of Brandi’s outfit.
Since it is hot in the crowd, and in Florida for that matter, her outfit (or lack thereof) is very practical, keeping her cool all night long. She accessorized with neon necklaces from Cosmic Drip, fuzzy rainbow earrings from Britts Blossoms, and of course… Kandi! Kandi, being colorful beaded bracelets and necklaces, is a distinctive and unique part of rave culture and is designed to be given away or traded away as a sign of PLUR culture – peace, love, unity, and respect. As we go through the rest of the outfits from the night, Kandi will be a recurring theme. Brandi killed this look, and it gets a 10/10 in my book!
Cyberpunk Princess
Bouncing around from stage to stage, I found Sabrina. Sabrina was wearing an intricate, criss-cross, two-toned, black and white, bodysuit. It was embellished with black chains on either side of the legs. She had miss-matched, black and white, garters on both legs to tie in the two-toned quality of the bodysuit from Rave After Rave. Sabrina loves to dance, so this outfit is supportive and good quality so she can bust out her moves! She accessorized with a silver and black leather choker, earing puffs from Britts Blossoms, black leather gloves, and lots of Kandi!
The poof ball earrings are a staple in ravers wardrobes around the world. The metallic tinsel material that Sabrina’s are made of reflects the flashing lights from the stage beautifully. I would like to point out her eyeshadow, tying in the silver from her earrings and the metal accessories. All the little details, or lack thereof, really make or break the outfit. Consider this fit made!
The Black Swan
Frank definitely stuck out in the crowd! This was Franks’s first EDC so he decided to go out with a bang! For day 1, Frank was wearing a beautiful pearled top, white Speedo bottoms, and a silver and white mesh overlay covering his face and legs. Franks says, “I wanted my outfits to have a story. I am a dancer and I like art so I was inspired by the story of the movie Black Swan. The story starts with a swan that carries an innocent and pure soul, that’s why I chose white for the first outfit, to demonstrate the angelic quality.” Since he was telling a story with his EDC looks, I’ve included the rest of his outfits as well to paint the full picture.
Moving onto his day two outfit Frank says, “Then the swan meets a forbidden love that incites him to lust and sin. The swan needed a little bit of evil to develop the character of the “black swan.” For that reason, this love leads him to lust and be able to explore his body, and then this swan falls madly in love. I chose a silver color to express love and sexuality.” The grand finale of Frank’s looks (and arguably all of EDC) was the Black Swan. Frank says, “To finish the story, the swan was very disappointed that love does not value her and only demands that she bring out that dark side, that is when the other personality of the swan comes to light.
The one that is evil and does not care about anything, that carries the dark in its heart and leaves behind that tender and subtle person that he once was, that’s why I chose black and feathers.” After hearing the story behind each one I was even more mesmerized than I had been previously. Raves are a place where people can be their true authentic selves, and in this case, express a message that is inspiring to others. Frank told this story beautifully through his outfits, and the meaning behind each one shines through.
Fifty Shades Of Green
It’s hard to follow up Frank, but Katie was an absolute stunner in this neon green fit. I may be a little biased because green is my favorite color, but this look made such a statement at the festival. Katie was wearing a green rhinestone bandeau top, with lime green high-waisted bikini bottoms, and lots of white fur! She accessorized with white fishnets, green and white garters with a matching choker, white fuzzy gloves and legwarmers, and fuzzy cat ears. Fur is a common accessory in rave culture, adding that extra “oomph” to the overall outfit. I would like to give an honorable mention to her fabulous green hair!
She’s wearing these fabulous rave bubble braids that absolutely complete the look! This look is a 10/10 along with her catchphrase for the weekend, “Be f*cking nice to each other!”
Rainbow Ice Queen
As I was looking around the festival for killer outfits, someone came up to me asking to take a picture with me because they loved my outfit. I took this as a sign to stop scouting my next victim and include my own outfit! I was wearing a white fur headband with spiked sunglasses on top, a black wrap-around bikini top with a black shrug on my arms, silver booty shorts, a leg wrap on one leg, a black nylon sock on the other, and lastly rainbow sparkly leg warmers. I went for something practical that I could dance all night in, while also letting the true raver in me shine through with metallic fabric and bright colors.
My makeup matched the theme, with rainbow glitter smeared across my eyes. Overall, ravers are looking for something that can stay cool, serve cunt, and have fun in. And that is exactly what they achieved!
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