SOUTHPORT MAGAZINE

-Written by Peyton Andino-

It feels embarrassing when you’re left out, doesn’t it?

To build excitement for her upcoming concerts, a younger Chappell Roan would post interviews of people lined up outside the venues. The themes were inspired by her music, current aesthetics, and fun concepts she wanted to come to life. Young girls donned baby pink bedazzled cowgirl hats, with matching outfits that’d make someone clutch their pearls.

There is a current trend for fans to make TikToks the night before concerts, their outfits laying atop their sleeping bodies as a Christmas audio plays in the background. The camera pans over their extravagant outfits as they excitedly wait for the night they’ve been looking forward to.

K-Pop fans and Taylor Swift listeners will spend countless painstaking hours scrolling to find the perfect costume to replicate for the special day. SZA fans despair over finding a copy of the jersey she wears on the cover of her newest album. Weeknd concert goers try to create the exact vibe of his albums in a cohesive outfit.

If you search for concert outfits on any social media platform, a trend will emerge. Links to online fashion retailers plague the descriptions of videos posted by picture-perfect models. Fashion Nova collaborations and a cute top, Shein promotion codes with a dress, ASOS links to some of the cheapest shoes you’ve ever seen.

Fast fashion is everywhere and doesn’t seem to be going away.

It’s not wrong to want to replicate an artist’s look. It’s been going on for years as artists give themselves a unique look to set themselves apart from others or create their own identity. MF DOOM has his iconic mask, one I’ve seen people close to me replicate for Halloween and wear as rings on their fingers. Insane Clown Posse, or ICP, has their signature Juggalo/Juggalette makeup and subculture that comes hand in hand with their music.

Why do people feel the need to buy entire outfits for a single night, some things which they may never wear again? A classic explanation is that it’s for the memories, for the pictures, to feel good about yourself on a night when you enjoy your favourite songs by your favourite artists.

Do aesthetics outweigh the environmental impact of your clothing?

The ethics behind fast fashion have been parroted back at you countless times by now, but let me restate them.

Zara, H&M, Hot Topic, Urban Outfitters, Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret, and Uniqlo are fast fashion. It does not just exist online. 85% of the workers that make these clothes are women. In 2019, it was reported by Business Insider that fashion production and industry make up around 10% of our carbon emissions. In that same report, it was said that 85% of textiles go into landfills each year.

Despite constant jokes about China and its relation to fast fashion, many large players in this industry prey on South Asian countries and their cheap labour costs, particularly Bangladesh. The International Labour Organization reports that 82% of Bangladesh’s export revenue is made through the aforementioned fast fashion production.

Shein’s main factories (out of its estimated ~6000) are stationed in China. Zara and H&M base their operations in the south Asian countries of Myanmar, India, and Bangladesh.

These clothes are sold at low prices that are advertised with a positive spin. Cheap, affordable, and trendy are all labels to describe how they see their clothing. With the growing impact of TikTok and the trend cycle, it’s easy for these brands to target impressionable young people who desperately want to fit into the expectations set by their favourite influencers.

So we come back to the pink cowboy hats, faux leather racing jackets that are paired with microtrend sunglasses and chunky plastic rings, reflective skirts that resemble a mirrorball and acrylic tops that are a square of fabric connected by strings, and we scroll one more time to the smiling influencer on our phones, posing on a rotating platform bought off of a multi-billion dollar website to help them peddle cheap clothing to the masses.

A young boy looks into his drawers, trying to decide what to wear later that day that would make him fit in. What makes him look like a fan of the biggest artist out of the SoundCloud era, to make him not look like a poser when he stands next to everyone else in line? What shirt with which chain that stains his skin green and pills within one wear will stand out?

A girl spends hours obsessing over the pink aesthetics of this artist and has scoured the internet for the cheapest option. Does this fit her body type? What looks the best on her so that she isn’t embarrassed by everyone else and their outfits; what five-dollar top will she not mind waiting hours for the performer in, as long as she looks pretty?

I get the need to wear certain outfits to concerts, wanting to fit into the aesthetic yet stand out in the crowd. But isn’t simply going enough? Is it not enough to perhaps check out a thrift store for cheap going-out clothes, as an alternative to online shopping? Additionally, why not invest in basics?

All that should matter about performing is the art that’s being presented, and how you feel while an artist’s sound fills your ears as you dance into the late hours of the night. Live music doesn’t care how you dress. It doesn’t matter if you wear the same outfit you previously wore to a concert, and why would it?

Clothing and music are meant to be loved and to last.