Appropriation, articulation and authentication in Acid House: The evolution of women’s fashion throughout the early years (1987–1988) of the Acid House culture

The purpose of this article is to explore how ‘dress’ from the 1960s’ American Hippy movement was appropriated and adapted by women in the ‘British Acid House’ music culture. The emergence of ‘Acid House’ transformed nightclubs from ‘places for drinking and looking good but not for dancing’, into a space where ravers would dance through the night fuelled by the drug, ecstasy. These changes manifested in a number of ways, most notably, through transformation of outward appearance, which included appropriation of the Hippy movement and ‘First Summer of Love’ in 1967. Similarities between Acid House and the Hippy culture were so akin that this early period of House music became known as ‘The Second Summer of Love’.