An Exclusive Book Excerpt

A sneak peek into my book Taylor Swift Style (out TOMORROW October 8)

One day out from publication, I wanted to share an excerpt from Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras. This book is officially out in the world tomorrow and I hope you love it - and maybe even learn a little from it. Taylor Swift Style hits store shelves October 8. Please feel free to spread the word and share this email with anyone in your life who you think might enjoy it. 

So much of this book was about going through the archives of my blog and revisiting the past versions of who I was and who Taylor was at the time of writing. So when it came to selecting an excerpt to share with you all, it felt right to take a page out of Taylor’s book and start by revisiting an era awash with a warm, familiar, golden glow. A time period that was comforting and pure. Nostalgic and sweet. 

I hope you enjoy this small piece of the Fearless chapter. 

But first! A final sales pitch!

As the hours dwindle for the pre-release ordering period of this book, I wanted to turn focus to the coming release week ahead. The first week of sales. A hallowed, frenzied period of time. I’m going to be bouncing from one event to the next this week (Seattle to Santa Cruz to Naperville to Kansas City) and I can’t wait for you all to get your hands on this book in person and, more importantly, thank you for wanting to bring it into your lives or the lives of friends and family who you think might just love it as a gift.

Between now and Saturday, October 12 at 11:59p is when sales are going to count towards making it onto a bestseller list. All the preorders that came before (thank you!) will be aggregated with sales made in the first week to inform that list. The time truly is right now. So if you’re considering this book for yourself or for a present come the holidays, I would love nothing more than for you to do that this week of all weeks.

From the bottom of my heart, I’m so so grateful.

FEARLESS: THE POP PRINCESS NEXT DOOR 

For an artist, especially one who made such a splash upon entering the music scene, there’s a delicate balance of excitement at the initial first taste of success, coupled with the anxiety and staggering expectations of the sophomore effort. Almost more than your debut, being able to transcend the sophomore slump is an even greater determiner of cementing one’s status in the industry. So it was with Taylor’s second album Fearless, released in 2008, that we saw the beginnings of several patterns that would go on to define this leg of Taylor’s career—both in her music but also, of course, in her fashion. 

Taylor Swift has yet to meet a sequin she has not loved. It is a simple, consistent fact that if it is shiny Taylor Swift will probably wear it. Appropriately, as her star began to shine more brightly on a wider stage, her love for anything that glittered ascended to a new level. She once sagely said, “Has anyone ever made more of the sparkly little dress? I just love them. Especially onstage, because I think it’s kind of fun when the spotlight hits you and your dress, for a millisecond, blinds people.” 

Being nominated amongst, and winning against, men multiple times her age was not foreign to Taylor. At the 2009 Country Music Association Awards, she not only swept in all categories she was nominated for, she also took home the night’s biggest award for Entertainer of the Year. Taylor’s fellow category nominees Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, George Strait, and Keith Urban (median age: 41.5 years old) applauded Taylor’s win as the chorus of “Fifteen”, a song written about the memories and lessons learned in her freshman year of high school, played out. Her gown emphasized her youth and femininity while also tying into the fairytale precedent of Fearless’ fashion. In a cloud of golden tulle, she hiked up the fluffy skirt of her Reem Acra gown to climb onto the stage to accept the award. The win made her the youngest person to ever be nominated for - and win - that award. 

This gown brings up saccharine visions of sparkly cupcake liners or bubbly champagne flutes fizzing, in the best possible way. It bottles the feeling of potential and sweetness, which feels only right as a way to embody what felt like just the start of her domination of country music and beyond. Enveloped by the live musicians who accompanied her on the Fearless Tour Taylor said, “I will never forget this moment. Because in this moment everything that I ever wanted has just happened to me … And the fans who come to the shows with the shirts you make yourself and the looks on your face that’s why I do this.” The shirts she mentions are a reference to the very popular DIY tour costume fans created as homage to the sharpied t-shirt in the “You Belong With Me” music video. Even on one of the biggest nights of her career, she threaded the connection she has with her fans and her lovingly imitated fashion into her speech.

You can find the rest TOMORROW, October 8, when Taylor Swift Style is finally out in the world. I hope you find it in your mailbox (if you pre-ordered!) or on a shelf at a store (ideally during the first week!). It’s a book I do hope you read to the last page in circumstances, hard, or wrong, or full of mistakes. #namethattune

I know that a bestselling book is a tall order, but I’ve never known a fandom to be as fervent and supportive and as ready to rally as this one. Thank you so much for supporting this “bigger dream of mine”.