Dressed in their best Styles-influenced outfits, thousands of Harry Styles fans gather together for the singer’s residency shows in Madison Square Garden, New York City.
From Aug. 20 to Sept. 21, Harry Styles takes on Madison Square Garden for fifteen nights to continue his “Love On Tour.” Fans do not take their concert attire lightly, as they come dressed in their most thoughtfully planned outfits.
“I think that comfort’s something,” said senior Jenny Fassnacht, “but also showing up in something that’s rocking in that moment feels like it fits inside of the concert so much that it’s like a celebration in and of itself.”
The creativity of fashion within the singer’s fandom boomed after the release of his sophomore album “Fine Line” in Dec. 2019, where he began to strut a more delicate style while wavering between pieces of traditional masculine and feminine clothing. Once the pandemic hit, fans stuck inside their homes took it upon themselves to recreate popular clothing and accessories Styles wore in this era, like the JW Anderson cardigan worn on the TODAY show and the beaded necklaces worn in his “Golden” music video.
Once “Love On Tour” started in Sept. 2021 in the United States, fans began wearing outfits that had aspects of the singer’s style in it by incorporating his previously-worn accessories, such as the famous feather boas from the 2021 GRAMMY Awards, or simply just dressing in his similar aesthetic. In April 2022, Styles’ new colorful, seventies aesthetic following the release of his junior album “Harry’s House” was introduced through his Coachella outfits, fans following the change during the 2022 summer European leg of the tour and now the residency shows.
“I wore a pink shirt with strawberries- it was knitted-, and then a red skirt, which had ‘H. S.’ on the back,” sophomore Georgia Rau said. “I wore that because I thought it just felt like ‘Harry Styles’, and the ‘H. S.’ is just iconic from the Coachella look.”
Without Styles’ clear interest in fashion seen through the outfits he wears, especially outfits used as a form of self-expression, fashion would not be as important to the fans.
“I feel like a lot of fans find fashion important at Harry concerts because Harry himself has become somewhat of an infamous style icon. His expression through his clothes bends gender norms, and incorporates interesting elements of multiple eras and genres of fashion,” junior Jaedyn Moreno said.
Fashion is not something that only Styles himself uses to express himself, as the fans use it in the same way, too.
“I feel like it expresses who you are, a little bit,” Rau said.
Though fashion is a staple for Harry Styles concert-goers now, it was still popular for some fans during his first solo tour that began in 2017.
Styles continues “Love On Tour” until July 2023, and fashion will no doubt still be as important and as expressive for fans and himself then as it is now.