Groove in style: Styling tips to make heads turn at festivals and concerts

If dressing for the occasion needs to be referenced turn your attention to music concerts and festivals At one recently concluded festival headlined by Sting comfort and functionality didnrsquot take precedence over style they went hand in hand We saw rhinestone net tops bohemian bralettes flowy dresses and oversized teesFashion stylist Tania Hergenhahn wears Chloe boots Monsoon skirt vintage top and Taylor Morrison sunglasses at All Points East Festival 2023 at Victoria Park London PicsGetty ImagesHowever fashion was a slightly different story at the crowdfunded Control Alt Delete fest where the five stages were more genrefocused Audience fashion differed starkly at the metal hiphop electronic and contemporary music zones The varied styles got us thinking about music genrespecific fashionAmB dressed for a hiphop eventInspired and hornedIn the case of music with roots outside of India most of its fashion followed what artistes wore in music videos and the trend set by previous generation fans This was the case for Ambarin Kadri AKA AmB 36 Indian hiphop and street dance pioneer who grew up watching 2003rsquos MTV and VH1 Hiphoprsquos tilt towards oversized and baggy attire comes with defined silhouettes where what you wear influences the way you move Kadri cultivated her style from this ideologyldquoHiphop taught me how to express through fashion Itrsquos all in the styling and how you season your identity You dress well you feel good and you dance wellrdquo says the artiste With graphic tees carpenter denims work shirts and sneakers Kadri will agree that the essence of the look is fresh and flyVenue for selfexpressionFor metalhead Varun Jha 27 a marketing professional who grew up in Nagpur there were limited avenues for live events to explore and cultivate onersquos style apart from following suit with a black or band official tshirt Today therersquos more access to the music mdash events venues to stream and platforms to engage with artistes and fans Jha notes ldquoNow you can explore music not just through people who shared that music previous generation fans but by yourself by taking the chance to own an identity based on how you associate with the musicrdquo This has brought in a shift in style where Jha wears pinkT shirts and boxer shorts with UVreactive coloured hair to gigs this coexists with the usual theme of black and stems from metal and rockrsquos nonconformist rootsConversation starterLongtime metalhead Deepak Gopalakrishnan 39 marketing freelancer and teacher adds that yoursquoll see people showcasing band or festival merchandise thatrsquos difficult to come by ldquoIt says something about your variety and taste in music I attended 2019rsquos Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium wearing that tee at another concert later started some conversationsrdquoSync with the musicAleem SiddiqueFashion at music festivals is more than a conversation starter for techno and house fan Aleem Siddique 37 publicist itrsquos an extension of onersquos personality and the music and a statement of styleSaanya Khatwani 32 founder of Yellow House Parra Goa who prefers house and electronic music notes that at such festivals itrsquos all about movement where people wear comfortable groovy fun and loose clothing But that doesnrsquot give style a miss ldquoI would describe technomusic fans as people expressing themselves in a liberating way There is a correlation between the music and styles itrsquos a judgmentfree space where you can explore an extension of your personal stylerdquo Khatwani continues ldquoTherersquos no base trend but in keeping with the weather I see a lot of glitter interesting silhouettes prints colours and jewellerySaanya Khatwanirsquos flowy lookIn the last few years Irsquove seen Indian textiles at boutique music festivals like Magnetic Fields with the wave of Indian labels offering cool pieces in Indian textiles and fabricrdquoPopcorePop concerts dive into the intensity of fanfollowing that pop artistes are capable of creating Think of Swifties Taylor Swift fans at concerts or in India for tribute concerts and music tour screenings Teenager Shruthi Jairam decodes the style ldquoAttendees dress up to reference Taylorrsquos albums Like characters James Betty Augustine in Folklore or the album itself like gold tassel dresses and cowboy boots referencing Fearless or DIY costumes that she has worn on stage like the Redrsquos 22 tshirt Midnightrsquos Vigilante shit bodysuitThe right appealGiselle Pereira 47 marketing consultant explains ldquoPop artistes and concerts apart from being entertaining are marketing phenomena worth studying focusing on brand loyalty and immersion understanding consumer psychology what appeals to a generation and how experiential marketing is what audiences crave for post the pandemic Fans try hard to delve into the heart and soul of the musicrdquoDress the festgtgt Techno Athleisure wear or loose and flowy silhouettes so that you can dance Explore colour prints and patternsSpace OutON February 2AT Kitty Su Andheri Eastgtgt HipHop Oversized clothing sneakers and stacked jewellery Donrsquot mix brands with an outfitCasa Bacardi MumbaiON February 3AT Radio Club Pier Colabagtgt Metal Band tshirt or black attire with cargo pants and combat bootsA Tribute to Metallica Iron Maiden and Type O NegativeON March 3AT The Stables Andheri Eastgtgt Blues and Jazz Up the chicquotient opt for tailored jacket and trousersMahindra Blues FestivalON February 10 and 11AT Mehboob Studios Bandra Westgtgt That Friday JazzON February 23AT G5A Warehouse Mahalaxmi WestWith inputs from Divyak DrsquoSouza celebrity stylist