behindthefanbase

[behindthefanbase]

Walking in an Artist's Shoes for a Night

Every artist has at least one IT look they can easily be recognised by. From red-carpet appearances to outfits that defined entire eras, for decades music fans have had their share of fun recreating their favourite artists' most iconic looks.

What follows is a gallery of polaroids from my 24th birthday party, also known as BBMAs – Benns Birthday Music Awards –, where attendees were asked to dress up as one of their most streamed artists.

Seeing everyone's idea of a recognizable look for their respective artist was interesting: some chose a look from a specific era or album rollout, while others decided to opt for a more 'everyday-look' approach. Either way, most looks were easily identified by the other attendees proving that, no matter what, every artist has some kind of 'uniform' that both fans and non-fans can recognise them by.

Can you guess what artists my friends pictured above showed up as?

[behindthefanbase]

SOUR Tour – How Prom Became the New Norm

Olivia Rodrigo's first-ever tour, SOUR Tour, took the live music scene by storm in 2022 with its immediately-sold-out run of North American and European shows.

A relatively new fanbase in the grand scope of fan culture, Livies – Rodrigo's fans – took a few notes from the singer's favourite artists' audiences and turned the SOUR Tour into a fashion show of their own. It wasn't long before #SOURstyle became the hottest trending hashtag on every social media platform as Livies checked fellow fans' looks like it was the morning paper.

Livies proved to be extremely fashion-conscious, bringing elements of the Y2K aesthetic into most of the outfits seen amongst the queues of fans lined up outside every venue the tour stopped by. From recreations of Rodrigo's own looks to Insta-proof glam looks, a drizzle of butterfly-themed ornaments – a meaningful symbol in Rodrigo's imagery – was the common thread that tied them all together.

Livies – and Rodrigo herself – took concert fashion a step further when they committed to the #SOURprom aesthetic halfway through the tour's run. Inspired by the singer's eponymous online concert, tour attendees were encouraged to de-retire their prom outfits and bring them back to life SOUR style. Contrary to what Rodrigo sings in her track 'enough for you', looking like the other prom queens (and kings) was not part of the brief.

Below are some of the SOUR Prom looks fans shared on their socials.

Photo credits: rodrigoswifts, bklynhrry, livsbuzzkill, afterqlovv, livscinema, its0nlyright_, brutalcinema, KarlyDuggan, laurathestork

[behindthefanbase]

Harry Styles: Love On Tour – How Stadiums Became the New Runaways

If Taylor Swift's Swifties take the singer's shows as a chance to embody her music through their outfits, fans of the former One Direction member Harry Styles take a more glamorous approach when attending the Brit's shows all over the world.

Harries – this is what Styles' fans go by – are known for flooding arenas with feathered boas of many different colours: follow the trail they left behind them on public transportation, sidewalks, and staircases and you will be led to the latest stop of Harry Styles' tour. The boas trend was so consistent throughout the last run of Styles' North American tour that Madison Square Garden, the renowned 20k-seater arena located in the heart of New York City, celebrated the singer's 15th consecutive show at the venue by gifting a feathered boa to every single attendee on the closing night of the residency.

The fans' affinity with fashion comes as a natural response to Styles' – excuse the involuntary pun – style itself. A close friend of Gucci's former creative director Alessandro Michele, the two have collaborated on a capsule collection for the fashion house titled 'HA HA HA'. Michele is also behind many of the looks Styles has worn on multiple red carpets over the past few years.

What follows is a short gallery of looks worn by both Styles and his fans at various stops of the Harry Styles: Love On Tour tour.

But back to Harries' concert fashion. The fanbase's impact on concert culture has been so relevant that multiple fashion publications have written articles about their commitment to, as they say, serve. When back in 2021 Styles threw the inaugural Harryween show at Madison Square Garden, for example, Vogue documented how fans gathered from all over the world dressed up in the most fashionable Halloween costumes they could think of. As Christian Allaire wrote in said article, "Spread the word: Dressing up for Harry Styles is the new trick-or-treating". What follows are some of the looks captured by Landon Phillips on the day of the show.

With another run of Love On Tour on the horizon, we are left to wonder: how will Harries up their game this time around?

Photo credits: Instagram, i-D, Vogue

[behindthefanbase]

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour – Swifties and a History of Creative Fan-Fashion

As our inaugural post highlighted, fashion thrives within the realm of music. Artists – more precisely those who are able to express a clear artistic vision aside from their sound alone – trace footsteps that, if defined enough, can be easily followed by their own fanbase. A great example are Swifties, Taylor Swift’s most devoted fans.

As Swift is taking over North America one stadium at a time with her Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour tour, Swifties are taking the internet by storm as they flood any and every social media platform with photos of their intricate outfits crafted specifically for the tour stop they are planning to attend.

A long-running tradition in the Miss Americana’s fanbase, Swift's fans are known for their immense creativity and commitment to producing the perfect embodiment of their favourite Taylor Swift moments. Most fans take the chance to recreate some of Swift’s most iconic looks both on and off stage, like the ones that follow in the gallery below.

Some Swifties like to take a more creative path, crafting their looks after specific lyrics in Swift's discography. Examples from above include group costumes, another way for fans to come together and celebrate the bonds they have created with fellow Swift enthusiasts.

For those who aren't as familiar with the Taylor Swift Lore, what follows is a brief guide to the looks above:

Bailey's Eras Tour take on an outfit from the Look What You Made Me Do music video ('reputation' Era, 2017)

Matching outfits inspired by the line "I once was poison ivy, but now I'm your daisy" from track Don't Blame Me on the 2017 album 'reputation'

Group outfit inspired by the chorus from track Karma on the 2022 album 'Midnights'

Stefanie's couple costume inspired by the line "He was sunshine, I was midnight rain" from track Midnight Rain on the 2022 album 'Midnights'

Recreation of the outfit Swift wore to the 2022 MTV VMAs afterparty in August of 2022

Another ongoing tour tradition for Swifties is one that was started by Swift herself. Back in 2009, during her Speak Now Tour, Swift would draw the number 13 on the back of her hand using sharpie, glue, and an abundance of glitter: "The significance of the number 13 on my hand...I paint this on my hand before every show because 13 is my lucky number for a lot of reasons - it's really weird" (Swift for MTV, 2009). Swift may have stopped applying the shimmering lucky number on her own hand, but her fans ensure the tradition will withstand the test of time by wearing the number with pride – a badge of honour that reminds them they're part of something monumental.

Photo credits: swiftiemexa, sarahlynn1994

[behindthefanbase]

Natalia Trevino Amaro: When Fashion Meets Fanbase

When it comes to fashion and music, the synergetic relationship between the two has a long-running history. 23-year-old fashion designer Natalia Trevino Amaro bridges the two and the fashion needs of Taylor Swift fans awaiting to attend one of the dates of the singer’s The Eras Tour.

Owner of a brand named after herself, Natalia started her business in June of 2020 after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. As she was living with her parents in Indiana during the early stages of lockdown, Natalia found herself struggling with the lack of work opportunities available in her field at the time – “I figured I’d just start making clothes and selling them since I had nothing else to lose; fast forward almost three years later and it’s my full-time job.”

Now, alongside her own original designs, Natalia is selling custom pieces to Swifties (Taylor Swift fans). “Like a lot of other businesses, I was hit hard with inflation and had very little sales through the second half of 2022; I started making custom pieces for fans in December”. Knowing she’d be making her own custom outfit for Swift’s tour, Natalia documented the creative process and uploaded it to TikTok. “I was honestly looking for any sort of sale at this point because things weren’t looking great for me. Luckily the TikTok I made hit the right audience and I was able to take in custom orders!”.

Though making custom pieces for fans is “more of a one-time thing” for Natalia, she is open to making more custom outfits for people in the future, no matter the occasion. “If I had to choose another fanbase to make customs for, I’d love to do it for Harries! Harry Styles’ fans have a fun sense of style at concerts so it would be super fun to make outfits for that!”.

As previously mentioned, selling customs to Taylor Swift fans has brought exposure to Natalia’s original pieces: “My personal designs hadn’t been doing too well prior [to selling customs], so I’m okay with letting that fall behind for a couple of months as making custom orders for fans is the majority of my work right now”. This said, she is trying to find a healthy balance between the two, lowering the number of custom orders she is accepting to bring her original work back into the production mix – “I do want to make sure people remember that I’m, a fashion designer first, not just someone who will recreate other people’s looks.”

A self-proclaimed Swiftie “since the beginning”, Natalia assures to be 100% of a fan girl, which is “so fun because you get to connect with so many people who love the same music that you do which is really special”. “I’d say [Taylor Swift] is the artist I most fangirl over, but I also love Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus, who I also feel I ‘grew up’ with”, whilst as of more recently she has also become a “huge Harry Styles fan”. Though fan culture hasn’t necessarily impacted her work in terms of style, “it has definitely helped get my creative juices flowing again after being in a creative rut for a couple of months.”

According to Natalia, fashion is crucial to the music industry: “Most artists are known not just for the music they put out, but for their entire ‘artist image’ […] Clothes speak for themselves and as much as a performance can be incredibly memorable, sometimes having that ‘reveal’ moment of wearing something show-stopping can really make it 10 times more memorable for years to come”. And of course, when she thinks ‘fashion icon’ in music, Natalia thinks of Lady Gaga – “I grew up seeing her wear so many ‘controversial’ outfits and pushing the boundaries of fashion; you never knew what she’d show up in. That really stayed with me and I still view her in that light”.

To keep up with Natalia and browse through her collection, you can check out her socials and website below.

Instagram - nataliatrevinoamaro.com - YouTube