Rave Fashion at Okeechobee Music Festival
The EDM community is not known for modesty.
Nipple pasties, face crystals, kaleidoscope glasses, kandi bracelets and pashminas in every color – wear anything you desire, or, wear almost nothing at all.
For outsiders, rave culture can appear bizarre. However, music festival fashion offers complete self-acceptance, the rare freedom to express yourself in an environment free of judgement. Ravers often wear accessories that represent friends or family, and the values of spirituality and PLUR (peace, love, unity and respect) underscore the entire community.
My first rave was the Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival in 2020, and I’ve never fallen in love with a scene more intensely. I wandered through a wonderland of colored lights and energetic music, and I found kinship with people who truly understood me. Styling rave outfits quickly became my favorite hobby, and I would count down the days until I could debut my newest costume. At my third Okeechobee in March 2023, I decided to highlight the creativity behind rave fashion and feature the eclectic individuals who define the festival scene.
Rawb “Laser” Lane
A man hunches over with a golf club in hand, eyebrows furrowed, carefully aligning his aim. With a gentle stroke, the ball rolls into its target – the open mouth of a raver lying on the ground.
“Who’s next?” the golfer asks, bells jingling merrily from his necklace.
A flower crown of roses loops around his maroon fedora. He dons a red pearl snap shirt, a leather vest, argyle shorts, different colored shoes and Ritz cracker socks.
“I’m an entertainer, a traveler. Thinker, doer. I’m a rave professional,” Rawb “Laser” Lane said.
Lane is a 38-year-old from Irving, Texas. He’s been attending raves for a decade.
Lane said, “We’re going a little Western. We’re going a little red and black. We’re going a little circus. I’ve got a nice argyle short going on, red and white, we love argyle. It’s clown.”
Lane’s outfit consists entirely of thrift store finds. He wears a hand cymbal that slips onto a finger. The bells on his necklace were handed down from a close friend who shared his passion for percussion.
“I’ve had them for a very long time. Very proud to keep rocking them,” Lane said. “I always keep some bells on me. Me and my lady always wear bells. We can hear each other coming.”
Lane’s necklace is comprised of old bottle tabs. Some people refer to the style as beer tabs or bottle chains, but Lane dubs them cheap chains.
“I make these for myself. Upcycling. There’s this thing that happens at Burning Man, and at a lot of cool nature fests, or any kind of recycling camps. You take the beer tab bottles and put them together. Sustainable and lightweight,” Lane said.
For Lane, rave fashion is represented by comfort, color and comfortability.
“I only would be where I'm at right now because of what I learned at music festivals,” Lane said. “They bring people together and put people in the right place for the right reason. And there's a lot of magic able to be made in that circumstance.”
Dejhanay Walker
A lacy top flecked with gold, a bright orange skirt and a silver bracelet full of jewels that snakes around her right arm. Her outfit is beautiful, but so is the open and vibrant energy of Dejhanay Walker, a 22-year-old from Indiana.
“I was inspired by a genie, then I came up with this flowy skirt thing to go with this lacy brown top and it honestly paired perfectly,” Walker said.
Her skirt was found at a boutique thrift store. Her bracelet was given to her by a stranger at the music festival, embodying the loving spirit of the rave community.
“The bracelet was gifted to me not even an hour ago,” Walker said. “Some random lady. She was like, ‘this would go so well with your outfit’ and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, thank you.’”
It is not uncommon to receive small gifts from strangers at raves, including everything from finger puppets to crystals.
“My favorite thing about raves is the vibrations, the good vibes,” Walker said.
Okeechobee was Walker’s first time experiencing a music festival.
“Rave fashion means naked to me, because I’m a rave baby. To me, it’s giving naked all the time,” Walker said. “It’s so freeing and beautiful. I love it here.”
Walker encourages those interested in rave fashion to simply take the plunge and experiment with their personal style.
“Just be freaking free with your fashion,” Walker said. “Play with it.”
Aaron Stepp
The jackal-shaped mask glistens in the Florida sunlight. Aaron Stepp, a 35-year-old from Pittsburgh, smiles broadly as he leans on his bicycle.
“I got a little design off the internet to make a 3D mask model, it’s paper mache. I put a bunch of streamers and pipe cleaners and jewels on it. It actually lights up too,” Stepp said.
The mask is a product of 20 hours of meticulous design. He felt inspired by Anubis, the Egyptian deity of cemeteries and embalming and the protector of graves. Stepp speaks of exploring past lives and spiritual ties to Egypt.
“I have a bit of connection with the history,” Stepp said. “I’ve found a few connections in my life that have resonated lately.”
Aside from his mask, Stepp wears a silver necklace with turquoise pendants, flowy pants and a tie-dyed shawl. He usually has a hand-sewn cape, but the brutal 90-degree weather made wearing it difficult.
“I inherited my necklace and my pants from my aunt. I like to channel her energy sometimes. She’s passed away, but she was a very inspiring and lively young woman,” Stepp said.
Stepp discovered his love for raving five years ago at Okeechobee. He lived in Florida for ten years, so he considers the festival to be a second home.
“Rave fashion is the epitome of self-expression through and through, whatever you want to put on your body and express yourself with,” Stepp said. “Even if that’s wearing nothing. Everything to nothing.”
Catherine Lallier
Her hat is straight out of a psychedelic trip. Complemented by mandala-like earrings, “Grateful Dead” tattoos and pink, heart-shaped sunglasses, Catherine Lallier, a 29-year-old from Miami, incorporates originality into both her outfits and her artwork.
“The hat is definitely the best part. I found it at a little hippie-dippy incense shop, where they've got prayer flags and tie-dye. I was particularly drawn to it, I've never seen one like that before,” Lallier said.
Lallier found the hat in the South Beach area of Miami, surprised to find a spiritual store nestled among the typical bars and souvenir shops.
Her other accessories are a scrapbook of the people who care for her. Her bag and chunky black Buffalo shoes are birthday and Christmas gifts. Her sunglasses are from a bachelorette party.
“I love seeing everybody's outfits be inspired by the self-expression of being as goofy as you can be, wearing outfits that you probably wouldn't be bold enough to wear out to a grocery shop,” Lallier said.
While Okeechobee is primarily associated with music, it is also an arts festival. When I spotted Lallier and her iconic hat near some murals, I assumed she was just another attendee admiring the artwork. However, Lallier and her partner are some of the artists who bring the paintings to life.
“It's just a different form of artistry,” Lallier said. “My partner has been dying to paint these goldfish and I was like, ‘you know what babe? We can rock it. You want the goldfish? We can do 'em for Okee.’ I painted all the flowers and helped with the design concept mostly, just deeply inspired by these goldfish. I had to support my man's vision.”
Lallier has been attending raves for over a decade, and has no plans to stop anytime soon.
“I like that I have the art as like an anchor as what I could give back, but it's really about the people and the community you don’t get to see all the time,” Lallier said. “You come back year after year, you see the same friends again and again.”
Strike out,
Writer: Uma Raja
Editor: Kate Corcoran
Graphic: Chloe Girod
Gainesville
