‘I have to honor the queen.’ A look at fans’ dress code for Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour

C. Isaiah Smalls II
·4 min read
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KevinLee Todman isn’t what you consider a Beyoncé fan.

So imagine his surprise when he received a few requests to style fans for the 32-time Grammy winner’s upcoming show.

“I know it’s Beyonce,” said Todman, the owner of Iuxury fashion marketplace As You Can See. “I know she’s a big deal. But I did not give [the concert] that much weight that it was such a thing.”

Beyoncé’s tours have become the can’t-miss event of the year. But with her ongoing Renaissance World Tour, which makes a stop Friday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, it’s clear that these shows have taken on a life of their own in large part due to a dress code that fans describe as a mix of Afrofuturism, space cowboy, disco and ballroom. Fans have truly taken “it should cost a billion to look this good” to heart – save for the seven figure pricetag.

“People are putting themselves out there,” said Nadia De La Mora, a sophomore at Florida International University who’s attending the show. She created a moodboard on Pinterest ahead of the show which includes images of Solange Knowles, Dennis Rodman and Grace Jones. The album itself, she described, can be considered a love letter to Black, queer communities due to the heavy influence of disco and house music. “It’s a very intersectional album so I know that people are really taking a chance to bring it to life.”

The project itself pushed the subculture that was ballroom to the forefront, according to Javon Wilson.

Javon Wilson created a mood board to pick his outfit ahead of Friday’s Beyoncé concert. The Renaissance Tour has been described as a fashion show of sorts, one where fans can do their best to combine influences of Afrofuturism, space cowboy, disco and ballroom culture.
Javon Wilson created a mood board to pick his outfit ahead of Friday’s Beyoncé concert. The Renaissance Tour has been described as a fashion show of sorts, one where fans can do their best to combine influences of Afrofuturism, space cowboy, disco and ballroom culture.

“Her album relying heavily on ballroom and disco made people who aren’t really into that music to start or know that music or know those pioneers to really start making ballroom an everyday thing instead of a subculture,” said Wilson, who’s attending the show.

Renaissance’s soundscapes pushed the fans’ creativity, Wilson added.

“The outfits should be as fun as the music is and that’s where people get the inspiration from,” he said

Although denim and chrome have been two staples of the Renaissance Tour wardrobe, fans are using their fits to convey different themes. For Jasmine Givens, she crafted an Alani Noelle chrome boxer short set with a bandeau crop top that she called “an homage to ballroom culture.”

A partial look at what Jasmine Givens intends to wear to Friday’s Beyoncé concert at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Renaissance Tour has been described as a fashion show of sorts, one where fans can do their best to combine influences of Afrofuturism, space cowboy, disco and ballroom culture.
A partial look at what Jasmine Givens intends to wear to Friday’s Beyoncé concert at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Renaissance Tour has been described as a fashion show of sorts, one where fans can do their best to combine influences of Afrofuturism, space cowboy, disco and ballroom culture.

“I was really intentional with supporting BIPOC designers because it might be Beyonce’s last hurrah,” said Jasmine Givens, who added she started curating her outfit months ahead of Friday’s show. Her standout piece? A purse in the shape of a chrome buttocks. Specifically tapping a women designer was important to her because of Beyoncé’s “movement around celebrating women – having all female dancers before and an all female band – I know it’s something that’s really important for me outside of Beyoncé. “

Others are hitting up stylists like Todman and Cordell Allen, who worked with artist Stevie White to create a denim patchwork trenchcoat that features a hand drawn image of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour poster.

“It’s become a thing of the times: to show up at a Beyoncé show more glamorous than Beyoncé herself,” White explained.

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The trenchcoat sold for $800 but ever since White posted a video of the piece to his Instagram on Wednesday, he’s been inundated with requests for t-shirts which he intends to sell for $150 a piece. White’s uptick in business falls in line with a phenomenon financial experts deemed the “Beyoncé bump” to explain how her tour has boosted local economies.

Cordell Allen worked with artist Stevie White to create a denim patchwork trenchcoat that features a hand drawn image of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour poster.
Cordell Allen worked with artist Stevie White to create a denim patchwork trenchcoat that features a hand drawn image of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour poster.

“Even just being part of this piece,” White added, “makes you feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself.”

More than anything, the outfits are a sign of solidarity. Francesca Morgan, who flew all the way out to Paris to witness the Renaissance, compared Beyoncé’s fanbase to a sisterhood. And while her own style is more subtle than other fans, Morgan made sure to have on some rhinestones.

Francesca Morgan pictured in Paris on the day of Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour. She described the dress code as part of the way Beyoncé’s fans honor her.
Francesca Morgan pictured in Paris on the day of Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour. She described the dress code as part of the way Beyoncé’s fans honor her.

“It’s Beyoncé,” Morgan said. “She can’t look down in her crowd and be like ‘Girl why are you here?’ Like I have to honor the queen. If she has a Renaissance concert and she’s on tour looking like a disco ball, I’m right here with you.”