Rave Outfits

I am loving the extravagant outfits at raves, the time, effort, sweat, tears, and creativity and even soul but no need to spend 100's ladies, when homemade outfits are some of the best i have ever seen and much more creative then a 199 carbon copies same costumes....
Its funny how people can take anything original and make it mainstream, the only truly original thing is doing what you love, how you love, and how you want it when you look in the mirror thats originality... and if you want to look like everyone else that is fine...but if you want to shine your colors and be yourself and stand out, its not by coping the awesome outfits you've seen at raves, i get it you think that outfit is great! but then make a great one of ur own, get ideas, put em together :D

Be original....Thats the point...     

Sparked EDM going mainstream??

Electronic Music has been huge in Europe, southeast asia, israel, and all around the world at clubs, raves, silent discos, and much more!!! so what sparked the giant epidemic that is EDM in the United States???.....well here's my opinion on this, which makes sense to me.....

When electronic music was introduced to America, it was mainly played in Gay clubs, at Pride events, and if anyone in America wanted to find a good electronic club to go to they would probably recommend a gay club......so it's no surprise that when being gay became more accepted in the United States with gay people on TV, talk shows, fashion shows, and even now with the marriage laws being decided on by the Supreme Court, that the music industry followed. Probably seeing this as the opportunity they have been waiting for to make millions off a scene that around the world is a billion dollar-scene, suddenly clubs were opening up for the purpose of only electronic music, DJ's began traveling all around America more frequently with more stages to perform at, and Miami, New York, and Vegas stopped being the only spots DJs would consider going.

Now i defiantly believe the EDM scene has gone mainstream for a dominio effect of reasons, with how the gay community has changed to be a few of the main dominos. Peoples want and need to express themselves, be themselves, share love, life, and get intoxicated and let loose with other people, we are designed to dance, love, be colorful and it will always be a huge part of why EDM is so big world wide and in America.



*side note: Hoping Supreme Court does the right thing and allows marriage for ALL regardless of sex or sexual orientation

PLUR- Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect

PLUR has been a part of the Rave culture and scene before the acronym made its way into the scene. When Raves started they were a place for anyone , gay, straight, black, white, Asian, hispanic, trans, or anyone who wants to dress as anything and be anyone for the night, forever, it was a fantastic place to express ones self. like anything though PLUR can be used or abused, a lot of people use it to represent love, and kindness but also a lot of people use it to get laid, sell drugs, buy drugs, or even steal from impressionable people!

Now we all have to be careful ANYWHERE we go, and a rave is no exception  Yes its a place to let loose, be yourself, and give your love to anyone! Of course some people are there just to use and abuse it but i find u cant get used or abused if YOU are actually on a path representing PLUR. MOST of the people who get played, used, robbed, or anything in between were talking to that person for the wrong reasons to begin with, REALLY ask yourself why your there? why are you talking to this person? if they give u a creepy vibe walk away, if you dont your prob after something so dont get upset when you get burnedddd instead....

To all the new ravers i keep meeting who tell stories of how all these bad things happened to them, i know SOME of you are actual victims of life and bad people! but most of you, know you were asking for it, you were trying to use someone for something and got played and used back in return.....

Dont hate on the PLUR :D its wonderful! and like anything can be used to share love, peace, and happiness, or be used to convince and lure impressionable people, but at the same time a rave isn't a place for impressionable children to begin with, its a party, its madness, its beautiful, and crazy!!

Types of people you meet raving

Here are some of the types people you meet at a rave :D 

 The Bro! always down for a high five, fist pump, random scream and giant hug even if you have never met, doesn't  like to wear a shirt, conversations go ; "I AM SO FKED UP!, THIS IS AWESOME! & screaming the name of the festival repeatedly..... anything past that is normally not possible, but they are always around when you need to scream randomly, start a random huddle, or hit on any chick as wasted as them. They do keep the energy moving through, and are always down for a laugh.  

Chicks who came to dance!!! now almost everyone at a rave came to dance and do there thing, and where they choose to dance says a lot about what there about for this rave. This girls, obviously in the back got there own little space going, not too crowded and are getting down! on some tunes some grooves and shaking it! these people are normally easy to talk to, introduce yourself and dance with, not being in the mess of the crowd makes it easier to exchange kandi, names, phone numbers, and are normally more "chill crowd" at the rave, not wanting to be right in the middle of the crowd.

The Front of the stage people, when i first starting raving that was my spot, i wanted to be as close to the DJ as possible, close to the music, lights, smoke and right in the center of all the dance action. I loved the crowd the feeling of being surrounded by that many souls all jumping and grooving and shaking like you feeling that beat drop and bass together! the few who spend the entire show up there trying to get as much energy in as possible are normally people not looking to meet new people but ones who came to just go as hard as possible.  I found with time i moved to be a mover...never staying in one place too long and trying to experience all the areas, people and variety of a rave.

The Glow raver, there normally covered in glow sticks, glow paints, light up hats, fuzzies, and anything else that might shine a light. These souls love attention so give it to them, great people to meet and interact with, they like to be center of attention so if thats your forte dont try to be bffs with these people :D but if your about meeting people to rave hard with who love making a splash these are the people for you. 

 The parent/child at rave....so i am no parents, and i wont tell people how to raise there kids but my opinion on children at raves is as follows: ONLY TIME child should be at a rave is day time hours, and if anything but EDM is being played (ex: strings, classic rock). Reason for this is daytime a rave can be like a family festival feel, or fair, but once night time hits, its insanity at its best, and if you think raising your kid around that environment is ok, maybe you shouldn't be a parent. (They should offer free condoms at raves--just saying)

The Kitty Cats... now these raver girls are normally wearing, underwear, lingerie, pasties, and sometimes add kitten ears or bunny ears. Now raves are mainly for young adults, the age where sex, music, and intoxication are part of our favorite things to do in life. Now i dont know any music scene where sex isn't a huge part of it because i dont know any human being that sex isn't a part of there lives. There is nothing wrong with showing you want attention, you are hoping to turn a few heads, and get some numbers and maybe even a partner for the night. Now this doesn't mean that because they wore that they are about hooking up, 99% of the time but some also just want the attention, lucky for the guys you can normally tell the 1% in a manner of minuetes.  

 The Animal guys! Normally dressed as, teddy bears, pandas, penguins, and every living creature allowed. these group of guys obviously came with the intention of having a great time! and doing there own thing. sometimes dressing like this to signal unity for the crew they came with and mostly just to be completely ridiculous and feel like you have your own little world inside the costume to be yourself and express whatever you want! Normally very friendly, always down for a photo!

 The girl in the outfit  now i have seen some outfits at raves that must of taken months!! and 1000's of dollars, this is a simple wolf outfit but outfits come in all shapes, varieties  and can be anything from an animal, to a character like Alice, or even a mirror suit!. These girls obviously love bringing a fresh look to the rave, and probably planned these outfits months in advance, normally as a group, and really bring to life the idea that YOU ARE THE STAR of a rave, the djs just provide the groove! 

Creepy old guy, we've all seen him, between 35-70 years old! obviously at the event to stare at half naked girls young enough to be his daughter or even grand daughter! and can't let go of how things USED to be, moving on with the times is a part of life and though i do love to rave, in my old age i wont be hitting the dance floor, hitting on children, and not realizing when its time to let go! 

Ladies, he may seem wise, sweet, and will probably buy you anything you want for the night, but seriously dont sell your soul to the creeeeper who brings the worst kind of vibes to a show!.

Jail Bait- Or Obvious Children in adult costumes. Now no matter the age restriction at raves, 18+, 21+ or all ages, There will always be 13 year olds such as these who decide dressing in tiny amounts of clothes and having good fake IDs will get them in always manage to find there way into a rave. When your drunk, rollin, tripping or on whatever level you may be on for a moment you may not look closely enough but always take a second look before talking to any girls! these children, who probably having father issues, are one step away from making your unbelievable rave a nightmare. If you think some adults can't handle themselves on substances, wait until you see children. Sadly the creepy old guy, will probably end up taking this mess off your hands fellas, if not there are PLENTY of kitty cat ravers, no need to go here. 

The Past out or ima lay here/in middle of the crowd raver, we've all seen him, laying there, and wonder will he be stomped on? how much is he on? maybe hes just extremely lazy and doesn't realize they have designated areas for this so you dont kill the vibe of a grooving area, or get stomped on the face by groovers?.... prehaps, but this is not the person you are looking for in your raver family, the lazy raver is NEVER a good addition.  

I am Still gonna write a piece on The People You Meet At Raves but for now i wanted to share an Hysterical Link :D Though i dont agree with all the opinions in this :) its worth a share

http://www.happyplace.com/15610/the-worst-people-you-see-at-every-summer-music-festival

Poi, gloves, hoops and every gadget in between

 Hanging at a rave, you realize for many adventurous souls just dancing isn't enough, they want to master an art to go along to the amazing sounds there hearing, they want to control lights, control fire, and move there body in constant beautiful motion. 
Thanks to the rave scene being such a culture SO MANY gadgets, toys, led hoops, smart hoops, fire poi, fire hoops, fire fans,led pods, flow lights and so many more!!! 

Flowing isn't just to amaze those around you, and give a beautiful show of art for people around you to see its a great way of keeping your body in tuned. Spinning stretches your body out as your spinning weights on a string, as you dance and move around you work on your coordination, 

wrist movement and even balance. Sometimes dancing for 12 hours for 4 days straight can throw a person off there balance beam and sitting and watching others. Poi helps people become leaders, of there own life spinning and flowing as they do and getting energy from all the vibes around them of positive spirit, cheering them on and sitting around them watching, seeing how your own art can calm others souls really teaches more about self responsibility, how you can control the vibes keep them flowing smooth.

Flowing is a great way of feeding off of each others vibes and coming together to help one another. I cant tell you how many raves i saw people teaching other people new moves, new flow skill, working together to bring new art to life and flow friends being created. I started flowing myself because of how friendly everyone was and how easily i found having flow was under the right circumstances, with the right people, music and vibes and even learning to  spin fire.

Opinion on Kandi

Kandi, a wonderful part of the rave scene :). Now theres a time and place for kandi, i'm not saying you should kandi up for work but in rave culture i happen to LOVE it. Jewelry and accessories will always be part of fashion and like any scene, the rave scene is about fashion as well and expressing oneself with color, textures, and any outfit you may need.

Making the kandi is half the fun, you get friends together, good tunes, some beer or wine and wings and snacks and make lovely bracelets, hand cuffs, masks, or even covers for daily items :)

During a giant event like rave, sometimes meeting people can be so overwhelming but with Kandi its a great ice breaker, you walk up to someone who beautiful colors caught your eye, stick up a peace sign! and away the trade goes, from there is the name, reason your there, where your from, how sick the music is going, and then deep conversations and friendships for life. All these experiences from a bracelet.

I feel like wearing Kandi is a symbol of equality, of happiness, about love, respect, and being diffrent and wierd and marching to the beat of your own drum, not taking the path paved for you but making your own path, doesnt matter if your a guy or girl or 16 or 40 kandi is an equalizer for a moment it symbolizes one thing. PLUR love. 

 

Camping Vs Non Camping Festivals

Now you may ask yourself, which is better camping? or non camping?

Most important thing to consider is your comfort zone, Raves are about doing your own PERSONAL thing and defiantly about your rave family as well but following your heart and NEVER do anything because the group is doing it, following the crowd is the OPPOSITE of what a RAVE is about 

 Each person has there own preference at a rave, Some like to be there when they open and crawl out when they close, some like to show up only when the sun goes down  and jump right into the crazy crowds already formed, some people are about after parties, some not, and some people are about the outfits they love dressing up in amazing complicated insane costumes meeting great people going back to hotel and clean up, shower and prepare outfit 2 and 3. Some show up in pajamas, st shirts, bathing suits, and anything else they may want. All these variables will come into deiscison making of camping to non camping, for instance outfits, camping festival there is no electricity normally so doing ones hair, makeup and getting an outfit together is difficult. For electric forest i know i had a shower tent and staying clean was enough of a hassle, wet wipes are you best friend at a camping festival.

Camping

• Unite as a group after raging all day, and are more like a whole family for days, or summer camp feel then just rave, --also all that comes with 24/7 being with people so all depends on your comfort level remember these are people non stop partying, dancing, raging, come ups, and coming downs but it is a rejoicing, loving, and uniting experience as well (comfort level with groups of people for long period of time, being dirty a lot, no electricity 
• No need to Pay for place to stay
• No need to drive intoxicated anywhere for the entire festival 
• No secure place to put items
• Cook your own food for the days and whatever you can pack you can eat
• A LOT  of letting go, letting nature take its course, good for the soul 

Non Camping

• Clean place to go back to/hotel room/ and get clean WARM showers and electricity to get ready for events in extravagant outfit 
• Safe place for valuables, phone, cash, supplies, and anything else you may need
• Eat anything you want, eat out, order in take out ect.. 
• You can arrive anytime, leave anytime
• Pay for hotel/motel/apt/shuttle to event/cabs
• Don't connect to as many people, or get a chance to meet as many people
• Must find after party for the party to keep going/normally pay more for it

Raves worldwide and my opinion of there differences

Raves happen worldwide and every rave is its own unique experience with each of its own pros and cons for ravers, worldwide i like to think of raves this way,

European raves- Underground, and Public Raves

Israel - Raves, and club/raves

Southeast Asia,India - Beach raves

America- Local, Global  

Now in Europe, theres a big difference between eastern european parties, there raves and european raves like sensation, mysteryland  and tomorrowland. I'll be discussing european raves because my experience in eastern europe hasn't been extensive enough to have an opinion.

Sensation

Raves like mysterland, sensation, and tomorrowland are amazing beyond words :) but definitely part of that is its LOCATION. Where a rave is, is extremely important and the city will not only provide certain vibes and energy for the event, it will provide the energy for after the event for the non camping festivals. Sensation in Amsterdam was fantastic, the crowd handled themselves really well and you could tell not many newbies were at the events, maybe somes first time at this specific rave but mostly ravers since there teens. I found that european's rave from there teens and its a much more regular thing, as well as because of the amount of responsibility, and how hard they work they tend to keep there raver etiquette down. There always about keeping the happy vibes going, they keep the conversation happy, the crowd is more diverse age wise with more 20-30 then young kids, a few people maybe vomiting in bathrooms or having sex in bathroom and some wild screaming but no freak outs, overtop and they were all excellent sharers of anything they might have to offer to the party :) 

 

 Mysteryland magic

Israel/ Rave in woods

&
below
Israel Rave in dessert
                                 

Underground in Europe i find to be a lot more intense, insane, and defintly true to there underground scene. The Police are also very different in Europe where you might be in a city an hour out of London where coppers are 30 min away with a phone call raves have the ability to truly go insane with drugs being sold almost in the open, where you have to know someone to get in, where its either a lock-in in a warehouse, or basement of a building party, or even a rave bus. I definitely enjoy the underground scene in England, Holland, and Spain where finding the party is half the effort. Knowing the right people, or being an exceptionally hot girl at the EDM clubs in that area are the only ways of getting an invite to these parties. They are planned with specific times you have to be there by and when you can leave, some are lock-ins where the people get locked into a building, warehouse, or where the event is and are not allowed to leave until the end of the rave, this stops anyone from entering such as police or exiting. Then the normal underground parties where you can leave and enter normally have an entrance with guards, if your not on a list, with an invite or know the passcode your not getting in. Once in, its beyond the crazy madness you could imagine, any substance at your fingertips at great prices, many different rooms for your mood, lights, smoke lights, lasers, djs, beds, and nitrous tanks. Hooking up is going on in 2's 3's and getting laid is as easy as wanting it. The dance floor is always packed, people do come to dance, and you can see every once of frustration from life leaving there soul as they pound the floor scream to the roof and dance the night away until about 9am in the day, some last until noon, some for days, some only until the sun rises or the police are called.

Israel- Has its own insane scene and is famous for being one of the best countries to rave in. For most countries i wouldnt add clubs to the raves list because the two are so diffrent but in israel, some of these clubs have events on the beach, on roofs with pools, and definitely fall in the rave catergory. those events are easier to find your way into and once at those you WILL find and meet people to lead you to the dessert and forest for events like WalkAboutLove and Psilosiva Pro great festivals that are very about disconnecting from the world. Israels scene for clubs is big on facebook so finding clubs for EDM  is very easy. From there you will meet great promoters for the raves they throw, you have to find these people because these raves as you will see have no adress, but location because they are in the middle of the dessert or the woods :D and they are amazing and worth the effort and fun to find :D. Mescaline cactus grow in dessert in israel so thats a local favorite for events.

Southeast Asia, Thailand, India and that whole area are famous for there amazing beaches, crazy clubs, and Full moon beach raves. Now in a country like this things are beyond insane, People are beyond wasted and past out around you on the beach. There is a great insane mashup of techno, trance, bass, trap, regge, and its packed beyond belief so hold your partners hands!! because loosing them here will be HARD to find them. Don't except to sleep, these parties go hard into the AM, you can find any supplies you may need, and glow in the dark body paint IS A MUST!!!!  

Although these parties have become a lot more commercialized then they were years ago filled with Israelis, Aussies, and brits its allright because its just more insane, full of life, full of amazing people you and your group can meet and continue adventures with! now beware creeps and sneaks are everywhere and southeast asia, at INSANE balls to walls parties like this ALL sorts of people are everywhere so, be in a group of min 2, if you meet a group dont go with them anywhere unless its a mixed group of boys and girls...groups of guys only are not safe bet, not saying there kidnappers, thieves, or killers but you never know and keeping safe is important, if you dont know the area, stay away from places that aren't hostels, beaches, and the markets :D!!

Now The American scene- I divide it by Local and Global the reason for this is, though there are great local events run by djs and there friends and they only tell certain people about it and may call it underground its not, theres always someone tweeting the spot, checking in on facebook, discussing it, or even the way cops have informants today, and laws, and rules, calling any rave in the USA underground is pretty much impossible to do but my classic raver underground rules. Now im not saying there are no true underground raves in the US... i have been lucky enough in Brooklyn and san Francisco to experience some truly underground warehouse parties but they are so few, far between maybe happen twice a year, and dont happen often enough to call it a scene in America the way it is in Europe. The local scenes have gotten huge with America finally making techno more mainstream, not EDM has never truly been "mainstream" but it has filled the clubs and parties in Europe, israel, and southeast asia for over 40 years. Now that its become so popular in america people are throwing festivals out in fields, renting clubs, having paint parties and its going Mainstream to events like Dayglow that have gone from 20$ tickets to 100$.

Global Events like Electric Forest, which happens in the summer in Michagen and is one of the most amazing camping festivals that exsist! i will be wirtinging another page with Camping/non camping festivals but as far as global, Electric Forest, Electric Daisy Carnival, Ultra, Coachella and more are known globally and people from all over the world come to see how us americans get down and we definitely get down hard! These events are filled with smiles, love, PLUR, Khandi, and everything you would expect in a rave but also police, that walk around during the rave looking for people taking it too far, and alot of kids ages 14-20 some completely wasted, barfing and not handling themselves at all but you find so many more of those at local events. Events like EDC and EF cost so much, and go on in Michigan and Vegas! so not easily accesible to anyone costing 300+ for tickets alone and i find though its expensive its worth every penny, the more expensive raves keep the better behaved people in, no one wants to be kicked out of a rave they payed hundreds of dollars for as well as people who have there lives together enough to save for those events are the ones you will prob want to meet :D to build your own Rave-Family :)

 

A Rave - For all of us who don't fit into the 9-5 work week life, us who live off the beaten track, march to our own drum, and never fit in anywhere where we couldn't be ourselves. A rave is a place where you can dance howevwer you want, wear anything you like from dresses, to bathing suits, to fluffies, to panda suits nothing is weird at a rave because its a place to embrace the weird :D to get weird together

When i started Raving in 2001, the scene was very different, most ravers today probably hear this from anyone who started raving before 2010, and are probably sick of hearing that, but the past is always hard to let go for people, and in the Rave scene some of us like me, who have been apart of this music, and movement for a decade are just in SHOCK of how technology, money, and going mainstream has changed the scene, the people, the music, and the way parties are done. With anything in life though you have to move with the times, and if you truly love techno, trance, house, and PLUR it still exists  and so does GOOD music, but your not gonna find it on the radio, you can't let newbies get you down, WE WERE ALL NEWBIES once upon a time, we acted a fool, we learned from our mistakes, and its time to let the kids do just that and not concern ourselves with how they behave or how they are at a rave.

Its time to concentrate on OUR movement, the movement of classic raver, us who used to drive miles to get to a gas station in the middle of nowhere with  a map and a passcode, if you were cool enough and the guy at gas station liked you, you got adress for second meet up, now if you got past that theyd give you the location of the rave, and by the time you made this mission complete you were in wonderland :D a beautiful place of djs sharing there soul, people meeting to disconnect from society, life, and the world for a night or a few, and the exclusivity of knowing your vibes were good enough to get you to the rave brought such positive flows :D 

Though we were ravers, there was raver etiquette, something todays kids seriously lack a way of behaving around one another, though most of us are on substances to help expand our mind and soul, give us energy to keep going until the end of a rave, or even just to have a good time that wasn't the ONLY purpose, and we didn't spend the whole rave talking about what we were on and how much we were on and how cool we were for breaking laws and eating substances.... because if your eating a substance to be cool you are probably the furthest thing from cool..... Taking a substance to enhance the music, keep your body going, and to make  a fun time even better was what the scene was about back in the day :D we would say things like "This song, it touches my soul!" and people melting face would even be like "vibes are so intense :D gonna sit down"
todays kids have no class, and immediately are like "are you rolling? how much you take? what you on?" and the worst are those who spend there time talking about how "fucked up they are" cuz honey we can seee how fucked up you are, and theres nothing impressive  about it.... doesn't take skill to make a fool of yourself, eat too many substances, and barley remember the great event a RAVE should be... Now these kids may call themselves "ravers" but as a raver for 11 years now, I can tell you kids who behave like this never last too many years in the scene...  

Now Raving has never gone mainstream the way it has now so the number of people who are showing up as a fad, and think the scene is all about drugs, sex, and madness. They don't understand what its like to be so different and want a different place to express yourself, and some people like a little ice breaker, a substance to open them up to people and experiences, but to loose your mind, and to do it in public isn't ok and to ruin a magical event for a lot of people but not being able to control yourself, is just selfish and like anything in life we have to look out for the selfish, fad heads, who do things because there cool or because someone else is doing it....   

A rave is somewhere where you can express yourself, your inner weird, and embrace it, love it, and get to know other people just like you :) people who are on there own path, who didnt like the roads paved by others so they created there own road :D