TSS June 2024
TSS June 2024
Recapping the debut of a new backup dancer on the Eras Tour and the Eggs and ethics of candid outfits
Continuing the monthly recap series is June, the highlight being a notable addition to the Eras Tour cast. Taylor’s newest backup dancer doesn’t seem quite as coordinated as the rest of the dancing ensemble (first time jitters perhaps?) - but he sure can jig!
In the way she treated NYC last summer, I expected Taylor to utilise London as her European homebase while on the Eras Tour. In addition to flexing her fire extinguishing skills with “us.” co-writer Gracie Abrams, we’ve also seen her out around London with friends between tour dates. This is June 2024.
June 8, 2024 / Eras Tour / Edinburgh, Scotland: As someone still wearing knits and denim in what feels like a perpetually overcast city, I so felt for Taylor when she experienced a hand cramp during the Acoustic Set of the Eras Tour her first night in Edinburgh, Scotland. As an immediate remedy the following night, a pair of black gloves were added to the Tortured Poets costuming to protect against blustery winds and colder temps in the United Kingdom so her hands would be warm enough to play guitar and piano for the acoustic portion of the show immediately after. To coordinate with her lighter Vivienne Westwood ensembles, Taylor uses a pair of white gloves by Irish designer Paula Rowan. A part of me actually hopes that regardless of temperature that the gloves stick around - I really feel like they add so much to the overall aesthetic of the look. That’s the power of styling!
June 11, 2024 / Out to dinner / London, England: Stopping in London to grab dinner with friends in between her Edinburgh and Liverpool dates, there’s still something that feels distinctively … egg-y about this ensemble. The black, the lace, and the bustier details of her Stella McCartney top and pants have all the hallmarks of the sensuous and Victorian stylings I associate with Poets which gets points from me for on-brand Eras dressing. I can also get on board with the sandwich styling via the pops of bordeaux from her matte lips, to her Gucci ‘Jackie’ bag, and slingback Gucci pumps. But it’s the rewearing of her Lorraine Schwartz Midnights choker that’s hanging over me like a big question mark. Or an anvil.
Taylor is most notoriously papped in her primary homebase of NYC. In terms of time spent and pap photographer per capita, this makes sense statistically. In lesser likelihood, Taylor has also been papped in her secondary homebase Los Angeles. Even more sparingly globally - typically on vacations in between tour stops - Taylor has also been photographed in larger cities like Sydney, Paris, and - yes - London. Between the obvious professional styling and going out in a pappable city, Taylor surely knew this would be a photographed moment. So again I ask: Why dredge up that necklace again following its debut at the 2024 Grammys?
As I previously noted, this necklace has come to serve as a symbolic lynchpin between eras. This custom watch face set onto a three-bead choker takes the time concept of Midnights and synthesises it into the Victorian aesthetic of Poets.
Though nothing (yet) has come of this ‘eggery’, I still sit here wondering … what did/does it mean?
June 21, 2024 / “us.”: The outing associated with the genesis of “us.” - the song Taylor co-wrote with Gracie Abrams for her newly released album The Secret of Us - was not in June. But in conjunction with her album’s rollout, Gracie also released behind the scenes videos from this night in November 2023 to confirm that Taylor was wearing a familiar Alaïa dress. You may recall she has also worn this one (styled very differently) in black. I personally feel nervous wearing white around food, but Taylor is a braver woman than I and can confidently pull the trigger on a fire extinguisher wearing white.
June 22, 2024 / Eras Tour / London, England: Did anyone else do a serious double-take-jaw-drop when this Instagram notification came through? What a departure on so many fronts! During tour, Taylor’s feed posts have typically been professional photographs of her on stage at that weekend’s respective Eras Tour stop. But this front-facing selfie is so disarming on so many levels. What a way to bring back the ‘candid’, human feel to her Instagram. As someone with fond memories of self-edited home movie vlogs and snapshots into Taylor’s life, it was such a great personable injection back into her feed. Let alone the fact that the subjects include the future kings(!) of England and the (killa)hard launch of her boyfriend on main.
June 23, 2024 / Eras Tour / London, England: Repeat after me: Do not drop the baby.
June 23, 2024 / Out to dinner / London, England: To keep the question marks going, Taylor made another candid appearance in London immediately following her three night sold out run of shows at Wembley. Like jet lag, is sleep deprivation also a choice? Somehow, Taylor kept her adrenaline pumping into the wee hours of the morning while out to dinner at the celebrity favourite hotel and restaurant Chiltern Firehouse.
While I typically consider myself agnostic to the Boyfriend Theory, it didn’t escape my notice that both Taylor and Travis were sporting coordinating, crochet-like wares. Travis’ pieces were actually cotton woven into a braidlike texture by Swedish brand Séfr - a small brand that originally started out as a tiny vintage shop founded by two friends, how sweet! A part of me can imagine how nice and breezy these outfits must feel, especially after a physically demanding show like Eras.
In my original caption, I focused primarily on the Fashion History piece to bring context to a seemingly and suddenly ‘off brand’ look such as this. While I stand by the fact that Taylor is far from a stranger to ‘boho’ styles, tapping into this particular genre of her style preferences at this juncture does feel a bit like a fish out of Tortured Poet waters. In the same way her reappearing Lorraine Schwartz choker gave me pause, this was the second time in June that Midnights fashion reminded me that its 70s-leaning colour palette and textures aren’t that far behind us. And furthermore, how the events of Poets were a complete and total disruption and destruction of the life she had just begun to pick apart on her introspective tenth album.
I also wanted to take a beat to focus on another worthwhile convo brought up by the crocheters of the TSS community who surfaced the concept of ethical fashion. I’ve often described Taylor’s trio of style pillars that help to project and maintain a relatable and attainable image. These pillars foster a certain public-facing brand for Taylor as a recognizable celebrity figure. But they also underscore a tangible, connective tissue between herself and her fans. Where Taylor’s lyrics are the emotional relationship that bonds us, her iconic fashion creates the opportunity for a visible, physical relationship too. And a huge part of that is incorporating accessibly-priced items into her wardrobe that a lot of her fans are also able to buy.
Which brings us back to this crocheted dress.
Unlike some garment construction techniques, crochet is one that can only be done by hand. Many TSSers noted that given the price of the dress ($119USD), it’s unlikely the crocheter in question who handcrafted the garment was appropriately compensated for their labour. While many TSSers were happy to see Taylor wear a piece “far more affordable” than they imagined it would be (and thus possible for themselves to buy), others were disappointed that “there’s no way the people whose hands touched this are … compensated fairly for the work they have to put in.”
This brings up such a great point of the power of fashion and, more specifically, the impact of our buying power and choices. There’s a story in what a piece looks when it’s captured in photographs. But there’s a story under that as well with what a piece says when you dive into its history and origins. And when a person has unlimited resources and one of the harshest spotlights imaginable, that makes the fashionable power Taylor wields (and the judgement of her choices as a result) that much more heightened.
What was your favourite ‘fit from June?