What YOU Wore: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour

Twenty incredible outfits and all the thought that went into them.

One thing I’ve wanted to do for a long time now is share your most thoughtful outfits. Dressing with intention is what So Many Thoughts is all about. Add to that the enthusiasm of this summer’s biggest moments? It’s my favorite kind of fashion!

I began by asking what you wore to see Barbie, then dove in with a request for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour style. The latter opened up the floodgates in the very BEST way, with dozens and dozens of you sending in your incredible outfits. 

Real talk: It was nearly impossible to whittle the submissions down to the 20 looks you’ll find below. My hope is that the ones included here span a wide range of styles, motivations, and reflections on the concert. Some of what folks wrote made me cry, others made me laugh out loud. I loved hearing what throwback Taylor references served as inspiration and how the pieces of the outfits came together. The DIY efforts were particularly admirable! There’s even a denim jacket that’s being passed around a lá Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants — how great is that?

Well done, all of you! And thank you for sharing with us. 🫶

ICYMI: Check out my newsletter with SMT on Eras tour fashion with Sarah Chapelle of Taylor Swift Style.

🐝 Coming soon: Beyoncé’s Renaissance fashion! Have you been to see Queen Bey? I’d love to hear what you wore and all the *thought* that went into your outfit. Please share in this Google form. (I know there are a lot of concert dates still to come — I’ll leave this form open through September.)

What YOU Wore: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour

Please note: Some of these responses have been lightly edited.

LEAH

Concert city: Santa Clara, California

“I recreated a look from Taylor’s ‘ME!’ music video! Seeing Taylor perform live has been a dream of mine forever. She was the first artist I ever loved! So when I knew I was going, I clocked this outfit as a ‘what-if,’ but began planning something else that I felt would be easier to execute. When I showed my mom my ‘what-if’ dream outfit, she said she could totally help me make it! So we sourced the perfect pink fabrics and she made me this gorgeous pink skort while I shopped around to find things that would work for the top. We worked together on the final touch, the giant red heart. I have loved Taylor for (quite literally) my entire life, so I guess it made sense to wear a giant heart, just for her! A dream outfit for a dream night, it really was perfect!”

ALEXIS

Concert city: Chicago, Illinois

“I took my sons (two separate nights because I couldn’t get three tickets). It was their idea to dress as our favorite Era. My oldest has listened to Midnights nearly every day since it came out and chose that Era. He is the coolest person I’ve ever met — at 12 he has more confidence and style than most adults. He asked me to buy him a cape and jewels and spray glitter and he made it all himself. We agreed the process of making our outfits/clothes was a chance to sit and absorb the show to come, how lucky we were to get tickets, and to be grateful for this music and artist. And he got so many compliments. 😭💙”

LAUREN

Concert city: Santa Clara, California

“I wore a Folklore-inspired long sleeved pink and orange floral dress with high heeled cowboy boots that have been to a million concerts! My daughter wore a sparkly white dress, cowboy boots and blue butterfly clips in her hair. She did blue eyeshadow, sparkles on her face along with the bracelets, a ‘13’ on her hand and lyrics written down her arm. I am not necessarily a Swiftie but I like her stuff and have SO much respect for the world she has built! My favorite part of the concert was watching her fans lose their minds over every little thing as well as watching the girls trade friendship bracelets with all the cops working security. I came away with a sense that Taylor feels seen by her fans and they by her. It is a highly unusual community that way. Pretty special.”

BRENNA

Concert city: Nashville, Tennessee

“Her ‘Anti-Hero’ outfit! I love the honesty of the song and the music video is iconic! I love the tacky vibe of her ‘Anti-Hero’ self’s outfit and how she came to Taylor’s house and influenced Taylor (herself) into making bad decisions. Very relatable.”

ALYSSA

Concert city: Seattle, Washington

“I wanted to be able to shop sustainably *and* rewear whatever I chose. With a New Year’s Eve anniversary, sequins were the obvious choice! I thrifted for months, finding the blazer first, and lucked out with matching pants. Sequin pantsuit?! Hell yes. To take it over the top, I *bejeweled* a T-shirt to read ‘NICE.’ I avoided concert videos leading up to my show and was over the moon when Taylor performed in a silver blazer like mine. And someone asked me to be in their ‘best outfits’ TikTok, the most flattering compliment this 30-something mama of two has had in a long time. Leaning into shimmer and sustainability made me feel so beautiful, and I will wear that suit over and over again. Friendship bracelet trading made this feel like the best summer camp — and giving the bracelets to my daughter the next morning made her day. My husband’s shirt came from the ‘You Belong With Me’ music video. While he was worried it would be too niche, he got tons of compliments. Dressing for a poet and her fandom is so creative and fun!”

ELIZABETH

Concert city: Nashville, Tennessee

“I have never been to a Taylor Swift concert before but have always wanted to go. I couldn’t decide on a favorite Taylor era because I love them all. I wanted to sew my own outfit so I finally decided on a theme when I found this glittery stars and moons fabric that was perfectly sparkly and very much channeled the energy of ‘Midnights’! I used a sewing pattern designed by an indie designer, Sadie of @spaghetti_western_sewing!”

ABIGAIL

Concert city: Houston, Texas

“I spent several months recreating a pair of floral appliqué overalls that Taylor wore in a photo from Eras rehearsals. I used vintage handkerchiefs left over from my wedding and vintage needlepoint that I thrifted.”

BETSY

Concert city: Cincinnati, Ohio

“My daughter and I both love the Red (Taylor’s version) album but also have been giving a lot of air time to Midnights. My shirt was dedicated to my daughter, Parker, in honor of her first concert — wish me luck ever topping that experience! My shirt, ‘In my mom era (Parker’s version),’ got a lot of love at the concert. My daughter’s shirt said ‘karma is a cat’ because 1) cats are life 😻 2) she also loves the song ‘Karma.’ We put a lot thought into our looks, including her first time rocking the red lip. 💋 My daughter burst into tears when Taylor came on stage and it is a moment I will never forget. ♥️”

DEBBIE

Concert city: Santa Clara, California

“I wore a pink floral dress with a purple sweater and pink heart glasses, nominally to represent the Enchanted era. I didn’t want to spend money on my outfit because I spent too goddamn much on tickets anyways. The dress was from a trip to Hawaii I made years ago when again I felt my wardrobe at the time wasn’t colorful enough and the glasses were from a bachelorette party, so it was nice to bring those happy memories to the concert! In addition to friendship bracelets, also wore a Henri Bendel (RIP) bracelet with LOVE charm because that concert is nothing but love!”

TARI

Concert city: Denver, Colorado

“I have been a fan for forever, and love many of the records... but never really embraced Lover until I was doing my homework for this tour under the tutelage of my niece who was going to the show with me and she insisted I needed to ‘try harder’ on Lover. Considering I trust my niece with all my heart, I focused solely on Lover for a few days, and dang it if she wasn’t right so that became my era of choice. Inspired by the songs, videos and vibe of that record, I Googled ‘rainbow sequin romper,’ filed through tons of options and ultimately we — because of course Nora, my niece, was the chairwoman of the ‘what to wear’ committee — settled on this stunner! My niece made her moss bra with actual moss! And my sister (who was not a Swiftie but was converted for the night) went with a Red-inspired outfit. We had the best night of our lives.”

ALLISON

Concert city: Denver, Colorado

“I wore a lavender sequin dress from Target and a hand-painted white jean jacket in honor of my favorite song, ‘Lavender Haze’ (painted by my friend @redfeatherdesigns). I love the song itself but the lyrics are relatable to my life after I reconciled with my EX-HUSBAND after seven years of divorce. Surely that comes with gossip! ‘Talk your talk and go viral. I just need this love spiral!’ I picked more relatable and digestible lyrics for the jacket for the show (‘Meet Me at Midnight’).”

ALLYSON

Concert city: Los Angeles, California

“I live in Cincinnati and came to LA to watch Taylor with my sisters! Taylor came to a Cincinnati three weeks ago, and there was this young woman who called in sick to work to go wait in the Taylor Swift merch line. The news showed up and asked to interview her — she didn’t want to get caught so did her interview LIVE ON TV wearing this blanket and sunnies over her head. 😂 A local T-shirt maker made a shirt out of her outfit and the commitment IS EVERYTHING TO ME. 😂😍  Plus BFF bracelets to keep the good vibes moving. I made over 70, all ridiculously specific and special to make sure I gave something important away. ❤️”

DANI

Concert city: Foxborough, Massachusetts

“I’m a fashion designer and was obsessed with Taylor’s 2021 Grammys look. But a body-hugging long sleeve mock neck didn’t seem concert friendly and I’m all about ‘taking inspiration from’ without copying. I made a version that felt more like myself in a simple shift cut with cap sleeves and threw on a blazer (a lá ‘The Man’) for when it got colder in the evening.”

ALLISON

Concert city: Minneapolis, Minnesota

“Orange one shoulder tank and a pleated hot pink and orange flowy skirt to match Taylor’s 2016 Grammy look. I chose it because it was the least expensive (money- and time-wise) and I wanted to wear something that I could keep cool in.”

JENNIFER

Concert city: Detroit, Michigan

“I had three options and ended up in my purple athletic skort and crop top to mostly match my daughter who wore a purple tennis dress but also to look cute and be comfy at the same time. I had glitter shoes and lots of extra pockets so I was very happy for that too. The best part of all of it was that I planned and ordered outfits for weeks and then my husband got work tickets for the first show and planned the greatest outfit hours before he went. He took our youngest daughter and she wore the reject outfit I had ordered in for my daughter. My oldest and I stressed for weeks on what to wear and the other two killed it with hours to spare.”

KATHLEEN

Concert city: Foxborough, Massachusetts

“I wore a recreation of Taylor’s 2021 Grammy performance dress, sewn by my best friend @sabbysews. Evermore is my favorite Taylor album. The winter of 2020-2021 was a tough time for me: my dad had had a stroke, I was living at home worried about him, trying to help my mother, and feeling over all very stuck, especially with the pandemic still raging. The ‘Evermore’ album was so cathartic for me in that time, especially the song ‘Right Where You Left Me,’ that I wanted to pay tribute. Since her only real performance of ‘Evermore’ had been in that dress, I begged my friend to make it. She ended up making the most beautiful recreation in only 8 days (!) that is potentially the most flattering dress I own (just look at that bodice).”

HEATHER

Concert city: Los Angeles, California

“I wore her ‘A Lot Going On at the Moment’ shirt [from the ‘22’ music video] because…Girl! A LOT IT GOING ON! Mom of 5, GMA of 1. Just sent my third off to college, can’t keep my head on straight, could barely make it out the door to the concert but boy did it feel good to let loose and sing my head off to my fave for almost four hours with my niece. And I’m including the unposed pic where you can tell we both have A LOT GOING ON! Lol.”

KENNY 

Concert city: Denver, Colorado

“These custom overalls in the ‘22’ shirt theme show my love for my bonus daughter. Plus, each Era painted on them had lyrics from a song in that era that relates my wife and I, who I have loved since I was six years old.”

BECCA

Concert city: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“I recreated the ‘Bejeweled’ music video rainbow rhinestone bodysuit and boots, along with the cloak from the elevator! I loved this look from the first time I watched the music video and I’m fairly crafty, so I knew I could show how big of a Tay fan I am by spending the time and effort to make the look myself. I’m also very extra (we call it extravagant in my house!) and it’s exactly the kind of thing I would do and wear. 😂 I went with my sister, my best friend, and her two sisters so I wanted to mark the occasion with a special outfit! It was a labor of love, and my sweet husband even helped out at the end when I was racing to get it done 💕 Also a shout out to Taylor Swift Style because I used TSS to ID the performance tights Taylor wears and bought them for the look!”

MEGHAN

Concert city: Chicago, Illinois

“Rainbow sparkle dress with sparkly tennis shoes, because DUH!!! Five years without a Taylor concert, I had to do something fun! I paired my Lover themed outfit with a ‘Bejeweled’ jean jacket. It said ‘By the way, I’m going out tonight’ with jewels all over it. Fun fact: Another Swiftie wore it to the Boston show (after taking HOURS to make it) and sent it to me! I connected with Ally thru the Be There in Five Facebook group, and she sweetly offered it to me for my show. She (the jacket) is now a ‘sisterhood of the traveling pants’ jacket and has been to 10 shows!! The shows we know it went to: Foxborough on May 21, Chicago on June 3 and 4, Minneapolis on June 24. Beyond that, I’m not sure where she ended up! But we did sign the jacket after wearing.”

I wonder who has the jacket now? How cool! Thank you to all 120+ of you who sent in your Taylor Swift outfits. You all look FABULOUS!

And don’t forget — if you are seeing Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour this summer, please share what you wore in this Google form.

📚 One more thing: Please help the teachers among us by sharing and/or shopping the SMT Clear the List 2023 spreadsheet. Make sure to call your local reps, too, and ask for more funding for our educators.