Taylor Swift’s “Style” during her Eras Tour will “Forever & Always” be iconic
On June 9, in Detroit, I will have the honor of seeing Taylor Alison Swift in person.
When Taylor began her Eras Tour in mid-March, I took very little time considering the idea of avoiding Eras tour content online, due to the far distance from my concert date in June. I don’t have the patience to go three months without knowing what Taylor is up to, and I’m reasonably certain I will still be able to have the time of my life, even with prior knowledge about the content of the concert. That being said, this article will contain spoilers about all of the outfits and several of the songs Taylor will sing, so if you’re going to the tour and want it to be a complete surprise, you should avoid reading this article.
This setlist is a journey through her musical eras, beginning with Lover. For Lover, Swift wears a “Bejeweled” bodysuit. So far, we have seen two variations of this ensemble. The one that first made an appearance is pink, blue, and purple. The colors blend together effortlessly, and the color scheme screams Lover. The second variation she wore was gold and blue, but otherwise, it’s the same bedazzled bodysuit. Blue is a color that Swift has repeatedly mentioned in her music, and some of her most iconic lyrics mention the color gold. In her album preceding Lover—Reputation—the song “Dancing with our hands tied” contains the lyric “Deep blue but you painted me golden.” This might be an unintentional detail that Swifties—the name of Swift’s fans—such as myself, are reading into, but either way, the bodysuit in both its color variations truly encapsulates Lover.
During the Lover era, Swift puts on a bedazzled silver blazer to match the silver-studded boots she wears. We’ve also seen a second variation of the blazer, one that’s black with silver stripes and gold buttons to match her silver and gold ombre boots. She wears the blazer for “The Man” and “You Need To Calm Down,” and then takes it off again for the song “Lover,” to conclude the Lover era.
The next era Swift immerses the audience in is Fearless. For this era, Swift opts for a shiny gold dress with lots of fringe. We’ve seen two variations of her Fearless dress, one with several layers of short fringe around the whole dress, and another with long, white fringe just at the bottom. The most prominent feature of both dresses is the fringe, which was an intentional choice as the dresses look magnificent when Swift spins on the stage.
Evermore. Many Swifties were overjoyed to discover Swift sang a whole four songs from evermore, as there’s an ongoing joke that Swift dislikes the album due to ignorance of its songs and not posting for its birthday, despite her posting about its sister album folklore’s only four months prior. For evermore, Swift wore an orange floor-length dress to complement the earthy tones of the stage and of the album itself. When she sings “Willow,” she adds a dark forest green cape as a reference to the original music video for the song, which featured a similar cape and witchcraft-like dance moves, which she also recreates in the choreography for the tour itself.
For reputation, Swift wears an asymmetrical sequined black bodysuit covered in red snakes. This look truly embodies reputation; from the snakes to the edgy style created by the single sleeve and the single pant leg, Swift has created a stunning and fitting look.
Unfortunately, the trade-off of evermore’s appreciation was the crime committed to Speak Now. Although Swift only sings one song off the album, “Enchanted,” the majestic gown she wears for each performance almost makes up for it. Almost. Swift has worn three different variations of a breathtaking, bedazzled ballgown. The first one she wears is gold and sparkly, and on the skirt, the sparkles fade downward until the gown is only the puffy tan tulle underneath. The next gown is definitely my favorite; the main color is pink, and purplish crystals cover the dress in a starburst pattern around the center.
The last gown is my least favorite, but it’s still a beautiful dress and it fits very well with the aura of “Enchanted.” Unlike the others, this one has long sleeves, and the silhouette of the skirt is much narrower, giving it less of a whimsical feel. This gown is decorated with simple silver crystals around the bodice, and the skirt and the cuffs of the sleeves are covered in petal-like pieces of fabric. Despite the other two appearing more mystical, this one is still a gorgeous dress that Swift looks fabulous in.
Throughout the performances for the Red era, we see three different looks. She begins the era in a white T-shirt, sequined black shorts, and a fedora. Swift’s T-shirt has different sayings from the Red era, including lyrics and a reference to a different T-shirt she wore during the original era. Then, she transitions to a bedazzled red and black ombre bodysuit. I think Swift could’ve gone for a more bright, vibrant look to complement the upbeat pop songs from the album, but the bodysuit is stunning nonetheless. To conclude the Red era, Swift adds a matching red and black ombre floor-length coat to wear atop the bodysuit while she sings “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault).”
The essence of folklore is effortlessly encapsulated by Swift’s choice of wardrobe for this era. Swift looks majestic in a floor-length, flowing dress. This era has seen the most variety in outfits, and each of the dresses is a little bit different in design, as well as color, while maintaining the signature folklore style.
As she proves time and time again, Taylor Swift will never go out of style. For the 1989 era, Swift brings us back to 2014 with a sparkly crop top and skirt set. Just about everything Swift wears each night is sparkly and shimmering, to the point where it collectively defines her tour outfits. We’ve seen three different color variations of this look; dark pink, orange, and green. Each set is complete with matching glittery high-heeled ankle boots.
Each night, Swift chooses two songs not on the main setlist to sing acoustically. While it’s a different song each night, the dress is the same in all ways except its color. It’s flowy, has many ruffles, a slit in the front, and is overall perfect with a minimal design to match whatever songs she chooses to sing. Swift has worn the dress in green, yellow, and a reddish/dark pinkish color. The style of the dress is versatile, much like the segment of the show she sings the surprise songs during.
The phenomenal three-hour show that is the Eras tour comes to a close with Swift’s most recent album, Midnights. Swift begins the Midnights era with “Lavender Haze,” where she wears a—you guessed it—sparkly T-shirt dress under a lavender, fuzzy coat.
After “Lavender Haze,” the coat is removed and she performs in just the dress. The simplistic yet dazzling impression of this dress is perfect for Midnights. While the coat is lavender every time—to fit the song—there are multiple colors of the dress. Swift has worn blue, pink, and white, and despite pink being my favorite color, the white variation was most definitely the best one. While it may sound like the most boring of the three, the white dress’s sparkles were iridescent, and they looked superior to the plain single-colored sequins on the other dresses.
For “Bejeweled” and “Vigilante Sh*t,” Swift changes into a dark purple and blue bodysuit with fringe at the bottom that creates a skirt-like silhouette. The color of the bodysuit is very Midnights-esque, and the deep shade transports me directly to the depth of the night. For all of Midnights, Swift wears knee-high, once again bedazzled boots the same hue as the bodysuit. The boots go well with every look Swift presents during the era, including her final song, “Karma,” in which she adds a glimmering, fringe-filled coat on top of the bodysuit. We’ve seen multiple colors of this coat, such as light pink, dark pink, and a purplish multicolor one. This outfit is the perfect way to finish the concert, and it complements the colorful confetti flying around the arena.
Just like that, Swift has performed for three hours. Hopefully, we continue to see more color variations and possibly other outfit changes to add to the plethora of looks Swift has worn. Each and every outfit was “Gorgeous” and left me “Enchanted.”
Ella is a junior who could not be more excited for her third year of writing for The Central Trend. For Ella, the past two years on staff have entailed...
Man • Jul 22, 2023 at 9:13 am
Great job writing this Ella!
Amanda C Okelley • Jun 9, 2023 at 2:54 pm
You made me fe3l like I was there seeing these of it’s w my eyes ty
Chris DeNigris • Jun 8, 2023 at 5:12 pm
Nice🧸🥰
ALAN ANDERSON • Jun 7, 2023 at 6:52 am
Excellent article❗Very well composed