24 April 18 - 24, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Taylor Made Fans of artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonce raise concerns over social media pres- sure and “fast fashion.” BY CARLY MAY GRAVLEY F or as long as live music has coin- cided with pop culture, fans have shown support for their favorite artists through their sense of fashion. But today, this sort of show-specific dressing presents new ques- tions. In 2009, Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein wrote a blog post for NPR de- tailing her history of obsessing over show outfits. From the bright magenta T-shirt and zipper pants she wore to her first con- cert, Madonna in 1985, to the flight jacket and Doc Martens she wore to see Sonic Youth and Nirvana in 1991, Brownstein lovingly describes getting ready for a show as a ritual that’s almost as memorable as the show itself. “Why are outfits important to the con- cert-going experience?” Brownstein pon- dered. “Perhaps less so as adults, but certainly in our youth, what we wore to shows acted as cultural signifiers. Our clothing exemplified and demonstrated our level of fandom, our knowledge of the artis- tic and social context from which the band or musician came, who we were, who our friends were and who we wanted to be.” This is the motivation behind all of his- tory’s fashion-forward music fans, from the hippies who wore florals and fringe at Woodstock to the punks who stuck safety pins in their faces. It’s also why modern concerts that cater to Gen Z are something of a touring Met Gala, where fans pull out all the stops to impress each other and their favorite artist in person and, most impor- tant, online. At younger-skewing shows and festivals, the expectations to dress up have risen through the roof. In the past 10 years, events like Coachella have been known for the fashion just as much as the music, and the numbers are starting to back it up. Accord- ing to a survey from Censuswide, over 7.5 million “single-use outfits for concerts or festivals” are purchased per year in the United Kingdom alone. To put it in terms closer to home, if a ma- jor tour came through North Texas and sold out AT&T Stadium, that could potentially mean that 80,000 outfits were purchased just for one night. Two events happened last year where this was a distinct possibility. Attendees at Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour, the blockbuster tour that came through Arlington last summer, set a new standard for concert fashion. Just as Queen Bey performed her shows in custom looks from luxury brands like Loewe, Versace and Telfar, her fans also made a point to dress their best in shimmering metallic outfits to match the disco dance party vibe of the tour. (This comically led to a shortage of silver clothes in North Texas.) Taylor Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour, which played for three straight nights at AT&T Sta- dium in March 2023, is another highly pub- licized setting for this trend. Fans spent weeks planning their outfits, which range from recreations of previous Swift looks to gag costumes inspired by fans’ inside jokes. Some fans will scour clothing stores look- ing for the perfect pieces to complete their look. Others will make their entire costume from scratch. Some of the best costumes of the night will go on to be featured on Taylor Nation, Swift’s official fan accounts run by her marketing team. Fans consider it an hon- orary acknowledgment from Swift herself. Ashley Mendoza, who attended The Eras Tour wearing matching outfits with her sister in Las Vegas, is one fan who was featured on the Taylor Nation Instagram account. “We saw our picture and we screamed,” Mendoza tells the Observer. “We were so happy Taylor Nation posted us because it meant they really liked our matching outfits! We right away called our mom, who accom- panied us to the show as well, to tell her they posted us. She was so happy for us and couldn’t believe it either.” Mendoza and her sister wore costumes inspired by a dress and cloak combo Swift wears while performing the song “Willow.” Las Vegas was the second stop of the tour; the costume in question had been unveiled the week prior. The sisters had seen it dur- ing a live stream of the opening night and knew it was worth pulling together at the last minute. “We live in LA and were traveling to Las Vegas for our show,” she explains. “We thought it was a perfect song to be inspired to dress for, since we are doing what Taylor wrote in her song, ‘Wherever you stray, I follow.’” Madison Truscan attended the third night of The Eras Tour in Arlington, also dressed ac- cording to theme. She repurposed a dance cos- tume she had worn in high school to create a look reminiscent of Swift’s “ME!” music video. “Any show that I’m attending where I am a loyal fan and know the majority of the mu- sic will be a show I dress up for,” Truscan says. “It gives me a way to express myself and is part of the fun of attending the show.” As much as she enjoys dressing up, Trus- can feels that social media has exaggerated its importance. Reusing clothes like the dance costume helps her put the music first. “Personally, I’d rather spend my money on getting a better ticket, or merch at the show, or upgrading to a VIP experience, rather than spending hundreds just on the outfit,” she says. Other fandoms have since jumped onto the concert fashion bandwagon. Up-and- coming pop star Chappell Roan, who played at House of Blues last Halloween, goes as far as to set a dress code for each of her shows based on a revolving list of costume themes, such as “Pink Pony Club” (a Western theme) and “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” (a spacey, futuristic theme). Fans of Roan converge in online spaces like Instagram and Reddit to ask each other for fashion advice: “Are we going all out?” “How slutty is too slutty? “Would it be weird to not dress up?” That last question was the name of a Reddit thread written by a fan who didn’t own any clothes that fit their show’s theme and wasn’t keen on buying some- thing new. “[I] am not a huge fan of buying clothes for a concert that I won’t ever wear again,” they wrote. “Would it be weird to just wear jeans and a T-shirt?” Responses were mixed. Some promised that the dress-up element isn’t mandatory and that comfort is more important, but there were more asking, “Are you sure there’s nothing in your closet you can wear?” Others recommended making a costume from scratch or buying something new and then reselling it after the show. ▼ Music Courtesy of Ashley Mendoza Ashley Mendoza (right) and her sister are two of many fans who went all out for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.