A long house music day has three rooms, and the groove never asks you to leave between them.
The first room is grass by the water. A DJ under a shade sail teases a disco vocal over a steady four-on-the-floor, and a paper fan somewhere in the crowd clicks along in time. The second room arrives when the strings swell and the light turns honey-colored: the crowd sways closer, and every velvet nap and metallic thread in the field starts to glint. The third room is concrete. One strobe, coats hanging three deep on a rail, and the same groove stretched long and patient until the doors open onto a pale street.
The music hardly changes between the three rooms. The outfits do.
We're Magus and Lylyth Fawn, Los Angeles visionary artists, and this is our house music outfit guide in three acts, plus the Chicago backstory that explains why house dresses the way it does.
How did disco become house music?
House grew out of disco on Chicago dance floors in the late 1970s and early 1980s. DJs such as Frankie Knuckles re-edited disco breaks for all-night crowds, then producers added drum machines and a steady four-on-the-floor kick. Magus Fawn reads that lineage straight into the wardrobe: house still dresses for dancing, with disco's love of shine.
Wikipedia's house music entry is blunt about the family tree: "One of the main influences of house was disco."
The room where it started was the Warehouse, a three-story former factory at 206 South Jefferson Street, established in 1977 under Robert "Robbie" Williams. Its crowd was mostly gay Black and Latino men, around five hundred dancers "from midnight Saturday to midday Sunday." Frankie Knuckles, its first musical director, played disco there and experimented with editing disco breaks on tape. Williams's posters called the nights "house" parties, and the name followed the sound out the door. (Our Chicago story Coat Check at Ten Degrees goes back to a warehouse floor in that city.)
That's the thread through all three outfits below: a dance floor built by people who came to move for twelve hours and look magnificent doing it.
How is a house music outfit different from a techno outfit?
A house music outfit leans warm and playful: color, pattern, a little shine and clothes that swing as you groove. Techno leans dark and functional, with black on black and one hypnotic detail. At Magus Fawn we dress house in prints with a sense of humor and save the shadowed palettes for the warehouse hours, when the two scenes meet.
| The code | On a house floor | On a techno floor |
|---|---|---|
| Palette | Sunset color, gold, pastel, a rainbow print | Black, graphite, one accent |
| Fabric | Cotton by day, velvet and jersey with stretch at dusk | Mesh, velvet, utility layers |
| Statement | A bold print you'd wear to brunch | One detail for the strobe |
| Mood | Friends dancing in a loose circle | Facing the booth, eyes half-closed |
The two codes meet after midnight, which is why our guide to what to wear to a techno party and this one share a warehouse.
Act one: the day party in color and cotton
House day parties happen on harbor lawns and festival plazas, with the dancing loose. Wear cotton, a print people can spot from across the lawn, and a hat you can tip back once the shade moves.
The Lucid cotton T-shirt ($60) pours violet, magenta, tangerine, teal and lime swirls down the front like color dropped onto water, folding into a mirrored, wing-like shape across the chest. Lucid is named for the dream where you know you're dreaming, which is how a good day party feels by the third hour. It's 100% cotton at 190 g/m², crew neck, regular fit, XS–5XL. (Its dream story lives in The Stage in the Cedars.)
The Cosmic Cross Silver women's lace cami dress ($65) pairs a black lace bodice with a mini-length skirt of mirrored silver, pewter and charcoal shards, faceted like cut glass. Silver reads cool on the lawn and catches the lights after dark. The listing describes a backless cut with crisscross back straps and spaghetti straps, in 95% poly / 5% spandex jersey at 180 g/m², regular fit, S–4XL.
Crown either look with the Alien Mycelium Pink snapback hat ($40): hot-pink linework on black, a small alien face crowning a mirrored web of threads and glyph-lined arcs, above a black brim stippled with fine dots. Mycelium is the forest's underground network, and a day party runs on the same idea, everyone quietly connected. It's 100% poly at 150 g/m² with an adjustable snapback closure, one size fits most, and the listing calls it "lightweight, breathable."
Act two: the disco set, gold and velvet
The disco set is house remembering its parents. Strings and diva vocals come back into the mix, and the crowd starts dancing with each other instead of beside each other. This is the hour for shimmer: velvet that breaks the light into glints, and prints with a gold thread running through them.
The Golden Phoenix V-neck bodysuit ($55) spreads a pair of feathered wings from a glowing green medallion at the center of the chest, the feathers fanning out in violet, cobalt, teal and gold over black filigree. A phoenix is reborn from fire, and house is disco reborn (more in our guide to phoenix symbolism). It has a plunging V-neck, an open back and a snap closure, in 95% poly / 5% spandex microfiber at 180 g/m², regular fit, XS–2XL.
For an open-collar disco look, the Temple of Sound crushed velvet polo ($65) seats a crowned figure at the center beneath a halo of ornament, flanked on both shoulders by stacked speaker cones, above a glowing violet dome, all in indigo, lavender, silver and teal. A temple built from speakers is about as house as art gets: the sound system as the place people gather. It's 95% poly / 5% spandex crushed velvet at 240 g/m², collared with short sleeves, regular fit, S–5XL. (Read its soundsystem story: Forward for the Teacher.)
What is an after-hours party?
An after-hours party keeps dancing after the regular clubs close, often into the morning. Wikipedia describes an after-hours club as one that "is open past the designated curfew closing time," with special permission to stay open. At a house festival, Magus Fawn's after-hours outfit is darker, warmer and built for the walk home.
The format runs in house music's blood, since the Warehouse danced from midnight to midday. Gottwood, on Anglesey in Wales, returns 10–13 June 2027 and says it will "build on our 24-hour licence," per the official site; our Gottwood outfit guide dresses its barn and forest hours.
Act three: the warehouse outfit
The Crimson Fenrir crushed velvet T-shirt ($60 in crushed velvet) brings a black wolf with glowing red eyes and bared teeth out of a cloud of crimson smoke, with a small red-rimmed dark orb near the hem. Fenrir is the giant wolf of Norse myth, and this tee is made for the hour when the room goes dark. It's 95% poly / 5% spandex crushed velvet at 240 g/m², regular fit, XS–5XL.
Then the cloak for the line outside and the morning after. The Void Mandala men's festival cloak ($250) scatters silver-grey mandalas, fine as lace doilies, across charcoal and black, from the hood to the hem. A mandala radiates from one center, like an after-hours floor turned toward the booth. It has a micro-mink poly outer with a black or white faux-fur lining, a double front zipper, heavy drawstrings and four pockets (two interior stash pockets, one zippered, and two deep side pockets), unisex fit, XS–5XL.
Wear it in the queue, check it once the room warms up, and zip back in when the doors open onto the street (our indoor rave guide covers coat check).
What do you wear to a deep house party?
Wear something soft, dark-toned and easy to move in, with one rich detail. Deep house is the warm, jazz-tinged branch of house, with unhurried tempos and soulful chords, so Magus Fawn's pick is velvet over bright cotton: a jewel-toned print, a soft layer for later and shoes that can sway for hours.
According to Wikipedia's deep house entry, the style originated in the 1980s, "initially fusing elements of Chicago house with the lush chords of 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music," at tempos typically from 110 to 125 BPM. Borrow from the acts above: the velvet polo for a rooftop at dusk, the wolf tee and the mandala cloak for a basement that runs late.
Love the dancing above all? Try barefoot, phone-free ecstatic dance.
Where to wear it: house festivals worth dressing for
- CRSSD, San Diego. Waterfront Park by the bay; the official site lists the fall 2026 edition (September 26 and 27) and signs off "See you in the spring," so spring 2027 dates are TBA. Our CRSSD outfit guide starts with the day-party look.
- Day Trip, beside the Queen Mary. The official site lists June 27 and 28, 2026 at the Queen Mary Waterfront, with 2027 dates TBA. Our Day Trip outfit guide runs from day party to disco set.
- Gottwood, Anglesey. 10–13 June 2027 on the official site, with that 24-hour licence: all three acts, cloak included.
- Houghton, Norfolk. Our Houghton outfit guide dresses the whole weekend, from first set to last.
Sizes and timing for all three acts
- The fit guide in one line: tees, polos, dresses and bodysuits come in a regular fit; cloaks and hoodies run best a size or more up ("sometimes even 2 sizes up to fit extra layers under," says our FAQ).
- Two sizes in mind? Lylyth will size you from your measurements at art@magusfawn.com; since sales are final, that conversation happens before checkout.
- Shipping: US shipping costs nothing once an order reaches $70, which the cloak does alone and any two shirts do together.
Count back 25 business days from the first set. Nothing at Magus Fawn is cut or printed until you order: production takes 7–11 business days, and the courier needs 6–14 more.
Dress for all three rooms: cotton tees · festival dresses · bodysuits · crushed velvet polos · crushed velvet tees · snapback hats · men's cloaks · women's cloaks
Cotton for the grass, velvet for the strings, a cloak for the street at dawn: three rooms, one groove, and art that tells the story of the whole day.
Frequently asked questions
What BPM is house music?
House music usually runs between about 115 and 130 beats per minute, and its characteristic range sits around 120 to 130. Deep house lives at the slower, warmer end, typically 110 to 125. That steady mid-tempo, a kick on every beat, is why house invites long, unhurried dancing rather than short bursts.
What is tech house?
Tech house is a house music subgenre that borrows from techno: the rugged basslines and steely beats of techno with the grooves and harmonies of progressive house. It grew through 1990s club nights in England, and today it's the playful, loud, peak-time sound at many festival house stages.
What is house dance?
House dance is a freestyle social and street dance with roots in the underground house scenes of Chicago and New York. Its main elements are jacking, a rippling movement of the torso, plus footwork and lofting. It's danced to loud, bass-heavy house in clubs and at raves, so loose, stretchy clothes make every step easier.
Written by Magus & Lylyth Fawn, the Los Angeles artists behind Magus Fawn. Magus makes VR and digital visionary art and produces Psy EDM. Lylyth makes fractal digital art and runs design and customer care. We've been selling wearable art since 2020 on Etsy (4.7★ from 144 reviews as of October 2026) and here at magusfawn.com. Come say hi on Instagram @magusfawn.
0 comments