Eras Tour Style Diplomacy

When costumes act as fun, function, and also flags!

When Taylor debuted over 20 new outfits during Europe’s opening weekend in Paris, my eye couldn’t help but notice how many of the new ensembles felt like ‘makeunders’ to their predecessors. For me, much of the magic of the Eras Tour costuming was in the careful balance between referencing but refreshing outfits iconified on past tours. The costumes felt familiar, but thoroughly modernised and new. By contrast, these European outfits more closely resembled their original, canonical tour ensembles and not the ‘Taylor Versions’ we’ve seen thus far on the Eras Tour. 

Ahead of playing “All Too Well” in Stockholm (the second stop on the European leg), Taylor said, “I think my favourite thing about the Eras Tour is that it really takes all my favourite memories, from all the tours I’ve done, and it puts them together … I want to thank you for all the years that you’ve supported me and been there for me and cared about my music, even though we didn’t come see you.” 

With this context in mind, it makes sense why Taylor would want to more closely recreate the costumes of those tours - it’s her way of bringing pieces of those performances that never got to live out on these European stages before for an entire slew of fans who have waited years to see her live. 

Although it’s early days (we are only two stops and seven dates into this leg of the tour), I wanted to get ahead of this post now because it’s a topic I love so much. In an effort to play catch up and to express her personalised affection for these European crowds she’s doing so, of course, through her fashion.

The new vs the old 

First let’s recap some of these ‘makeunders’ as I call them.