Etsy's Handmade Blog
Hot Trends: Nu Rave Neon

Take a look around. See a little more neon than what you're accustomed to? Well, that's because fluorescent colors and candy raver styling is back in a big way. Whether it's flannel (which will be featured in a future Trends column on lumberjack and grunge chic) or neon, people are bringing back the culture of "anti-fashion," but in new and reinvented styles. The music scene associated with all the fluorescent action is known as nu rave, which is a homage to the "traditional" rave scene characterized by fog machines, light shows and pounding electronic music, as well as the other musical genres of disco and new wave.

Neon first came into vogue in the early '90s. Popular items of fluorescent clothing included t-shirts, sweatshirts, socks, shoelaces, hair scrunchies, and fanny packs, worn by both men and women. Whether vintage or handmade, neon is once again in the streets and on the runway, and the fashion-forward know it's time to make it work!

Here we have some popular neon looks and coordinating Etsy items you can incorporate into your wardrobe. Bring the neon back to your town!

 

                   CloudbringsRainbow                              Shoplift                                  410BC

 

                     resetcouture                         GreedyGoretti                          Indiscretion

Check out more fashion forward ideas in our Trends series, as well as on Flickr's wardrobe_remix, IamFashion.blogspot.com and Finnish street style powerhouse Hel-Looks.

What trends would you like to see profiled? What's new and forward thinking? Leave it in the comments! 

Tags flickr, fluorescent, Hel-Looks, Hot Trends, IamFashion, neon, new rave, nu rave, shopping, Trends, wardrobe_remix
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49 comments     Login to add your own!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 12:27 p.m. annettemusick

cool. This seems like the west's version of harajuku. :)

Feb. 6, 2008 at 12:29 p.m. TeenAngster

totally!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 12:34 p.m. bitsandbobbins

hel-looks is from helsinki, finland, not sweden. :)

great post...love all this stuff!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 12:37 p.m. TeenAngster

Whoops! My bad. Fixed.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 12:43 p.m. miscelena

>>Neon first came into vogue in the early '90s.

Close, but not quite.. *grin* "Nu rave" is almost certainly a play on "new wave" - here's a wiki-link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Wave...

"New Wave was a rock music genre that existed during the late 1970s and the early-to-mid 1980s. (:::snip:::)

This involved the use of spandex, bright colors (such as fluorescents), and mass-produced, tawdry jewelry and ornaments, typified by the dayglo aesthetic of the band X-Ray Spex."

Interesting that then it was a celebration of mass-marketing. Heh!

(And yes, I'm apparently old now.)

Feb. 6, 2008 at 12:53 p.m. SalmonStreetStudio

Are Frankie Goes to Hollywood shirts, aerobics classes and Wham! coming back too?
; )

Feb. 6, 2008 at 12:54 p.m. miscelena

God help us.

;)

Feb. 6, 2008 at 1:07 p.m. tigerluxe

neon has actually been around since the early '80s.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 1:31 p.m. electricbluebird

Wow! Reminds me of a treasury I did about a month ago!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 1:41 p.m. TeenAngster

Wham! is always on in my book!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 1:45 p.m. pookeh

ooh, nice!

*puts on her shades*

Feb. 6, 2008 at 1:58 p.m. TooToo

Neon=AWESOME.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 2:02 p.m. jenmenkhaus

oh, help! i love the look on the posted work, but am i the only one who actually wore neon the first go round?

Feb. 6, 2008 at 2:03 p.m. electricbeaderella

i've been absolutely in LOVE with neon colors lately! This is PERFECT!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 2:05 p.m. TeenAngster

You're not the only one, jenmen! I'm right there with you.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 2:16 p.m. syko

I thought the girl was wearing a stripy Marimekko-shirt on the photo, well she is! How cool that you find a Finnish picture for inspiration! I love the neons on front page, makes me remember my childhood...

Feb. 6, 2008 at 2:42 p.m. juliebcreative

nooooooooooooooooooooo the 80s are back! noooooooooooo

Feb. 6, 2008 at 2:42 p.m. 410BC

thanks for including us! <33

Feb. 6, 2008 at 2:43 p.m. aplanetnamedjanet

Maybe if I just sit still, my turn will come.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 2:48 p.m. lalunedesigns

Hey, am I crazy or is that a walking skeleton in that yellow dress?

Feb. 6, 2008 at 2:58 p.m. lollipopvomit

thanks for including me! i love neonzzzzzzzzzzzz!!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 3:02 p.m. stitchandtell

Well, neon was here in the mid 80's and gone by the late 80's - and EVERYTHING was available in neon - ugh, nothing like neon furniture to match your closet full of neon clothes...LOL

Feb. 6, 2008 at 3:09 p.m. pattihaskins

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?...
I almost glow in the dark I'm so neon bright and I'm the Plush Team mascot!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. makemesmile

I used to wear black and only black all through the 90's, but the 80s were pretty neon. (Dutch pop band Doe Maar had neon pink and green as trademark colours).
I like bright colours now, but I still associate it with the synthetic polyester ewh fabric from the 80s.
And I agree, lalunedesigns, that's a not a healthy looking girl.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 4:54 p.m. eclipse

Storque says:
"Neon first came into vogue in the early '90s."

I think that was the second wave of neon fad, because there was a lot of neon in the 80's too. In fact I think it was more widespread in the 80's, in mainstream fashion, whereas the 90's neon was mostly limited to the rave subculture.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 4:59 p.m. eclipse

SalmonStreetStudio says:

Are Frankie Goes to Hollywood shirts, aerobics classes and Wham! coming back too?

----
they ARE back! *shudder*
last summer in London I saw tons of young girls wearing those oversize Wham T-shirts, choose life, Relax, etc. They are being reproduced, it wasn't vintage.
The fad might be over already though, but things also take a season to spread from Europe to USA so we might be seeing them here this summer.
*shudder*

Feb. 6, 2008 at 5:44 p.m. areathriftyone

"traditional" rave scene??!!!?

Make a girl feel old, why don't you!?

I remember those "traditional days"...

Feb. 6, 2008 at 5:46 p.m. SalmonStreetStudio

"Shut UP".

That is too much eclipse.
Neon, OK.
Frilly things, ok.
Various body part warmers, ok.

But Relax shirts.

Please don't say that Acid Wash was all the rage in Paris!

*goes away humming "wake me up before you go-go" and thinking of the movie "Music & Lyrics", and feeling old*

Feb. 6, 2008 at 5:47 p.m. SalmonStreetStudio

Oh, and yeah, the fabrics were ewww!
At least the fabric being used to make the too bright and too shiny stuff are better now.

Ok, what IS next?
Butt bows on dresses?

Feb. 6, 2008 at 5:56 p.m. BlueLadyBeads

My Hubby is not allowed to see this. He already bemoans himself to be OLD. This would just confirm it.

SalmonStreetStudio,

Oh, please, not the but bows. Though, I confess I had one on my wedding dress nearly nine years ago. Eek, I am old.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 6:06 p.m. eclipse

butt bows and scrunchies and PERMS.
:p

Feb. 6, 2008 at 9:10 p.m. loveforever

woot woot!
as a proud old-raver, i've been waiting for this to come back in style and i was pretty psyched to see lots of nu-ravers in london last time i was there. gotta go dig out my glow-sticks.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 9:26 p.m. jenNco2

I still buy/play with glow sticks every Halloween. I'm the only person on my block swinging glowsticks on long strings in the dark, lol!

I guess not so much any more, with the "new" trend. Maybe I'll finally be "ahead of my time", haha! I say bring the techno and Strobe FX wands... I never stopped listening!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 11:24 p.m. SalmonStreetStudio

I think we need to make a BUNCH of smiley face shirts then. yep. and giant pacifier graphixxx?!

It is funny how much each generation knows/doesn't know about the one before.
I am *certain* we thought we were the first to use/wear/say ____, but we may not have been (as in this, cause some people didn't even know it is actually Neon V.3.0 NOT 2.0!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 11:41 p.m. eclipse

it might even be neon 4.0.
There were "neon" (aka blacklight) colors with some popularity in the 60's, and hippies used it more for bodypainting or posters, less for clothing. And the mod/OpArt style in the 60's also used it. I have an old 60's blacklight poster I need to list in Vintage.

Feb. 7, 2008 at 12:05 a.m. Peldyn

I thought the look at fashion week was 1940's as seen in the looks put out by BCBG Max Azaria? I think the neon look is already over guys!

Feb. 7, 2008 at 2:46 a.m. MoxyFoxDesigns

Don't forget the 1950s! Here's an article from TIME magazine dated 6-4-1951.

For better visibility during World War II, landing signal officers on U.S. aircraft carriers wore fluorescent-striped uniforms, wigwagged planes to landings with fluorescent "paddles." Most of the material was made under license from Cleveland's

Switzer Bros, (chemists), and the services bought about $12 million worth in two years. When peace came, Switzer tried out the brilliant dyes for caps, shirts and jackets. By last week, adolescents were fluorescent from coast to coast, as Switzer's "DayGlo" clothes became the newest fad. Items: shocking pink caps with kelly green brims, electric blue ties striped with cerise, black cowpoke shirts embroidered in fluorescent green. Some youngsters wore one sock of glowing orange, one of rasping raspberry, topped them off with high-visibility shoelaces in contrasting colors.

The makers of "Day-Glo," "Coldfire," "Emberglow," "Atomic Fire," etc. hope to extend the craze to adults. In Chicago last week, women were buying brilliant tangerine panties; matching illuminated brassieres were on the way. Men were buying electric-hued shirts stenciled with hunting scenes, were stocking up on chartreuse swimming trunks for the summer season. One welcome promise of relief for dazzled eyes: fluorescent materials will fade after 20 hours' exposure to sunlight, eventually turn dead white.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/art...

Feb. 7, 2008 at 3:04 a.m. tabidesigns

it seems the 80s will never die, we just keep taking different elements from it and reinvent it. I just hope the shoulder pads never return

Feb. 7, 2008 at 10:06 a.m. miscelena

MoxyFoxDesigns history note about the fading fluorescent colors reminded me... Anyone have a Hyper-color shirt in the late 80's? Mine was neon-pink, turned to neon-purple... *smile*

Feb. 7, 2008 at 10:25 a.m. scorpienna

I always wanted a hypercolor shirt. Of course everyone ended up with their armpits a different color than the rest of their shirt.

Feb. 7, 2008 at 1:52 p.m. SalvagedExpression

I'm pretty sure pale washed out blondes shouldn't wear neon but I'm used to sitting out trends.
On the other I had just started on a line of black light items featuring glow sticks. I feel like a trendsetter or something.

Feb. 7, 2008 at 2:25 p.m. Palpitations

oh, I love the necklaces in the first photo, that is exactly my style. I want to make some for my shop now. =D

Feb. 7, 2008 at 6:22 p.m. shaylamaddox

<--- Don't forget the blacklight paintings! Wow, I was so influenced. I can't deny it. I have always loved glow in the dark everything!

Great stuff, yay for neon!

Feb. 15, 2008 at 5:15 p.m. MadelinePrescott

The 90s? LOL I remember neon colors in the 60s!

I was sewing with them again in the 80s for my kids.

I love the neon and hot colors. They make me feel cheery just sewing with them.

Feb. 21, 2008 at 9:10 a.m. iamnotadoll

neon/fluorescent makes me feel sick. it hurts to look at, and now i have to deal with seeing it everyday just because Those People Who Decide What Is Cool (you know the ones, the ones that make that book) said so.

Feb. 21, 2008 at 9:25 a.m. saranoh77

i thought neon was a big hit in the early 80s not 90s. Early 90's were all about flannel!

April 6, 2008 at 12:36 p.m. youmeyou

I love neon...and wardrobe_remix...xo!!!

April 27, 2008 at 9:02 p.m. retropolisvintage

Ha! Candy ravers..... I remember (sort of**)those days--- does this make me old?
Here's hoping my kids dont find the yellow funfur flares, whistle and plastic chain in the closet!!! In another couple of years I can sell them as "vintage" in Etsy! so silly.
:)

April 27, 2008 at 9:33 p.m. annamatrona

i think neon looks best in small doses. like my tights in the photo below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lmadream...

also neon is good for your fingernails in summer.

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