Rave & Festival Tops

A festival top is built for a long day outdoors rather than for an evening indoors. That sounds like a small difference and it is not. You will be in it for eight or ten hours, in heat, with your arms over your head for a good part of it, and it has to survive all of that and still look right in a photo taken at four in the afternoon.

Those conditions are what separate it from a going-out top. Sun means your shoulders are exposed for hours. Dancing means anything that relies on staying still will not. Standing in a crowd means no airflow, so a fabric that feels fine in a fitting room can be unbearable by the second set. And almost every one of these gets photographed, which is why so much of the category is sequin, holographic and iridescent rather than plain.

The thing that actually decides whether a festival top works is the back, not the front. Arms over your head is the test, and a halter that ties or a lace-up back can be pulled tight enough to pass it. A bandeau or a straight pull-on cannot, whatever it looks like standing still. Worth knowing on fabric too: sequins and rhinestones photograph beautifully and run hot, and the backing can scratch after a few hours, while mesh and crochet breathe and show more. Pick which of those two problems you would rather have.

Grouped by shape, with the rest of each one next door.

• Halter and crop tops: the biggest group here and the one that passes the arms-up test most often. Tie-back and lace-up versions adjust to you, which a pull-on does not.
• Bikini and triangle tops: doubles as swim, which is why these turn up at pool parties and day events more than anywhere else.
• Bra tops and cage bralettes: strappy and structured, worn as the whole top rather than under something. Built to be seen.
• Sheer mesh tanks: the coolest thing to actually wear in heat, and usually layered over a bikini top or pasties.
• Corsets and bustiers: steel-boned, underbust and overbust. Heavier and more structured than the rest, and the most dressed-up option in the category.
• Bodysuits and one-pieces: no waistband and nothing to pull down between sets. The most searched shape in rave wear by a wide margin.
• Festival bottoms: the other half. High-waist shorts, mini skirts and chaps, which is what most of these are cut to sit above.
• Pasties: what goes under a sheer or open top, or instead of one entirely.
• Plus size rave and festival: the same shapes in extended sizing, kept as its own page so the fits are easier to find.