My Weekly Recommendations
Writing this from (yet another) airport gate. I’ve just finished up a second weekend in a row in Toronto and I’m still fresh (aka physically weary) from Night 5 of the Eras Tour in Toronto. I’ve often heard from friends and readers that you get the Taylor surprise songs you need not necessarily want and boy did that piano mashup hit me for so many reasons.
Parade (Michael Giltz). TSS was included as a “best new release” for its pub week! Unreal! Ignore how long ago that was! I’m doing my best to catch up! Thanks so much to Michael for touting TSS’ deep, informative approach to helping Swifties become fluent in fashion. “Pretty soon you’ll seen an iconic outfit and know exactly what it’s saying.” They also put together a bonus article together to include Taylor Swift Style as one of the best in its highly specific sub-genre of best Taylor Swift books. Being named immediately after Taylor’s own book and famed Rolling Stone journalist Rob Sheffield’s bio is high high praise. “[Sarah] knows the fashion of Swift is an essential artistic statement.” Too right!
Yahoo (David Artavia). Speaking of Rob, being vaulted alongside other Swiftie journalists-turned-authors (in addition to Rob, USA Today’s Bryan West who was my conversation partner for my sold out book tour stop in Nashville, TN last month) means so much. It’s been one of the most gratifying experiences to turn one of my life’s deepest passions into something as tangible and fulfilling as a book. Having Taylor’s artistry acknowledged to the extent that there’s ample space for us all to occupy informative, educational niches that are deemed to have value and interest is like the full circle extension of how Taylor first got people to take the POV of a teenage girl and her vivid emotional life seriously.
Vancouver Sun (Aleesha Harris). I can’t express the feeling of being published in your local paper just ahead of your hometown signing on a sold out book tour. Vancouver, you will always always have my heart.
Refinery 29 (Esther Newman). The time for gift guides is upon us! The driving force in making Taylor Swift Style as stunning on the outside (gold foil lettering! gilded edges!) as it is on the inside (200+ colour photos!) was of course my heckling and pickiness during the design process. But the added benefit is that TSS is ideally suited to being giftable for any Swiftie in your life as a “beautiful hardback book”. Many thanks to Esther for saying I “understand [Taylor’s] style evolution, how her fashion intersects with each album era, and how Swift weaves easter eggs into her clothing.”
Pure Wow (Olivia Dubyak). A juicy roundup of giftable things for Swifties this holiday season with Taylor Swift Style included! “A must for any fashion-forward Swiftie” - enough said!
The Strategist (Bella Druckman). For this gift guide, I really appreciated that Bella took my recommendations into account when it came to populating ideas for this gift list. In addition to Taylor Swift Style (natch) which was “name-checked by almost every Swiftie” that Bella spoke with, I proffered up some giftable items of my own. These are items that I think make beautiful, easy gifts for anyone regardless of fan status but have the added benefit of being Taylor-approved. Candles are always a win in my book, and this is Taylor’s favourite. Perfume is another, for example, that I think makes for a beautiful gift that lasts forever. I find people don’t often buy fragrances for themselves - often because of the price tag that fancier labels have. Plus the sense memory of knowing that you’re thought of with every spray!
AP Swiftie. There were so many soft feelings with this one. I knew I was going to be in great company with people who take an academic, literary approach to deciphering Taylor Swift’s music. Their concept paired perfectly with the thoughtful, nuanced way I analyze Taylor’s fashion.
The Social. While I was in Toronto last week I had a full court press day of media both locally and nationally. This spot was part of The Social’s dedicated Taylor Swift episode ahead of her first string of dates at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. Right before me there was a professional baker who replicated Taylor’s favourite baked goods which means yes I walked away from the set with a pocketful of her famous Chai Cookies. Yum!
Access Hollywood. I sneakily filmed this feature ahead of my sold out book tour stop at Annabelle’s while in Los Angeles, CA. We chatted about Taylor's style evolution and some of the key turning points of her fashion that I have documented over the last 13 years. Many thanks to producer Sharon Spaeth for reaching out to me for this opportunity. We connected earlier this year for my first spot on AH to provide fashion commentary on Taylor’s Super Bowl style. My mother-in-law is an avid AH watcher to this day and I forgot to tell her I’d be making an appearance in an episode. I’m sure you can imagine the text chain that ensued after this aired … Sorry, mom!
Taylor Swift Style was shortlisted as a finalist for Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year. While not ultimately dubbed The book of the year, like many before me have said, it’s an honour just to be nominated. And if it’s good enough for Glenn Close (eight time Oscar award nominee, never an Oscar award recipient), it’s good enough for me. Thanks so much to B&N for their love and support of this book.
If the little me who once hauled a wagon to and from her local library Matilda-style and who begged for boxed book sets and who attended midnight releases of the latest instalment of her preferred YA fantasy series knew that *her* book was going to be placed front and center of one of the biggest book retailers around … well. I just don’t know what she would do.
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We loved having you on the podcast!! Here's a direct link to the episode for those interested https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e58-show-and-tell-style-featuring-sarah-chapelle/id1708100388?i=1000673269735