Ready, steady, fashion! What to wear raving in 1993… [January 1993]

Music and fashion have gone hand in hand for more than half a century, and this article from Smash Hits in early 1993 sought to shed some light on what the self-respecting raver should have in his or her wardrobe for the coming year.

And who better to offer some sage advice than The Beloved’s Jon Marsh (who would go on to chart success later that year with Sweet Harmony), who journalist Sylvia Patterson notes should know a thing or two about dance fashion ‘after ten years of raving’.

“Dance fashion should be the clothes that people wear when they go dancing, not the expensive clothes that people wear to pose around in. I don’t think there should be any rules. If people make you feel insecure because you haven’t got the right clothing, then the problem lies with them.”

The interview also takes a saucy turn (let’s not forget, this is Smash Hits), as Marsh recalls that “the last clubs I went to, most people ended up taking most of their clothes off, so what are we talking about here?! That’s the sign of a really rad club. In the New York gay clubs I’ve seem people take them all off – completely naked on the dance floor. It’s cool, the only problem there is where d’you put your cloakroom ticket?”

On the same double page spread, Apache Indian (remember him?) offers advice on how to maintain the ‘bhangra’ image on a trip down the local supermarket, in an interview with Pete Stanton.

[Kudos to Lansure’s Music Paraphernalia for the upload. Photos by Neilio]