Jasmine and Karla Ramirez aren’t real ballerinas, but they showed up at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas last week in full tutues, tights, and tiara.
“We wanted to bring it all out,” the sisters explained after detailing how they painstakingly recreated the look in Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” music video. We want to show Taylor how much we appreciate her after all these years. We want to be seen by him, as he has always shown us.”
Swift’s Eras Tour kicked off just three weeks ago, but many Swifties have spent months designing and coordinating their outfits for these shows – long before the Ticketmaster disaster throws them both emotionally and financially into the trenches. I’m a long-time Swift fan too, for the past few weeks I’ve spent most of my waking hours admiring the reveal of other fans’ outfits on TikTok (in clips often tuned to the sound of AI-generated Swift screaming “Oh my God, your Eras Tour outfit”) VERY looks good!”) and I spent [redacted] dollars in transports in my own communities.
The circumstances leading up to this tour were ripe for the emergence of this newfound craze to prioritize and carefully plan Eras Tour fashions among Swifties. There was an epidemic that kept us at home and largely handed us over to a home-wear wardrobe; five years and the release of four new albums since Swift’s last tour; and TikTok’s rise in documenting the concert-going experience (and for some, it’s fueling competition and anxiety among fans who want to outdo the others).
And then there’s the whole concept of the tour: Eras takes the crowd on a non-chronological tour through Swift’s career, from her country roots to pop idol stardom to folklore storytelling and everything in between. This is reflected in the scene as well – Swift’s own outfits change with the passing of each period throughout the show, which lasts for more than three hours. The question arises: If she’s going to be making multiple costume changes every night, why shouldn’t fans be so concerned about their own looks?
Many Swifties on TikTok referred to the tour as their personal Met Gala. demand‘s annual themed high fashion soiree (Swift aptly said to have met longtime partner Joe Alywn in 2016). Some have used the opportunity to cosplay as Swift herself, recreating everything from previous tour costumes, funnier niche looks like Swift recovering from LASIK surgery with glasses after surgery or earning her honorary NYU doctorate in a cap and gown. outfits that only true fans can appreciate. A fan and her mother went to a Las Vegas show dressed as real Easter eggs to celebrate Swift’s long practice of embedding hidden messages in her performances, social media posts, and outfits.
Others chose ensembles inspired by different albums rather than recreating specific looks, such as wearing snake images to represent. Reputationor pink ruffled tulle Dear. Selena Gomez and her younger sister even played with outfits at one of Swift’s Arlington stops, where Gomez styled her hair into two loose buns and wore an oversized cardigan in tribute to Swift. Folklore Period and her sister are wearing the same dress that Swift wore on her Speak Now World Tour more than 10 years ago.
“You have so many choices when you think about what to wear to celebrate 10 albums,” says DaNae Couch, who wears a cowboy hat and a sparkly pink blazer covered with champagne bottle patches alongside her boots. “Everyone may have a different album, song or era, but Taylor is the invisible thread that binds us together.”
Fans who don’t recreate specific looks or channel specific eras are leaning towards what otherwise becomes an unspoken rule: If you’re on the Eras Tour, you wear sequins or fringes in one way or another. A phenomenon similar to that seen at Harry Styles concerts last year. Flocks of fans came to Love on Tour dates by channeling a retro ’70s vibe and wearing feathered boas that often make venues look like Big Bird was brutally murdered there.
While concert fashion was once primarily distinguished by artist products, the trend has shifted to curated concert looks that have long been associated with festivals like Coachella. Part of this can be attributed to fatigue from COVID, as fans now have a new liking for concerts and want to dress accordingly. Goodbye, jeans and t-shirt; Hello, extravagant, glamorous ensembles celebrating the excitement of getting out of the house and watching your favorite artist live.
Fans of both Swift and Styles, like McKinley Anderson, have seen the fashion evolution of the marquee tour firsthand.
“Everyone was confined to their homes for so long that it was something to look forward to at the end of Harry’s tour,” he says. “There was so much time to plan and create that he came up with some really fun and unique outfits throughout this tour. And since the Taylor fandom and the Harry fandom are so interconnected, that mentality has infiltrated Eras as well.”
Wearing a white draped dress and blue butterflies in her hair as a tribute to Swift’s debut album, McKinley is also aware of the role social media plays in this trend.
“You want to prove to everyone that you’re there, have fun, and look good doing it; more emphasis is placed on getting the perfect shot to capture the night,” he said. “Maybe it’s a subconscious attitude because the epidemic took more than two years of everyone’s life and we fear it will happen again.”
And even fans who prefer comfort over extravagance are not exempt from the obvious prerequisite that the Eras Tour’s appearance must be somehow conspicuous. On the night of Arlington’s two fashion shows, amidst a sea of sequins and glitter, I stumbled upon a batik T-shirt-wearing fan that I can only describe as cursed. The back of the shirt featured an image of Swift from the critically destroyed film adaptation. Catswith a long block of text advocating the stale on the front Dear The single “ME!” is a song that many fans feel endlessly relieved to see Swift drop off the set list for this tour.
“I support him in everything he does,” the tie-up fan explained to me. “I hope he plays ‘ME’!’ tonight.”