Why Taylor Swift's fashion sense never goes out of style. Canadian blogger Sarah Chapelle weighs in
The Next Chapter contributor Mirian Njoh chats to the Vancouver writer about her book, Taylor Swift Style
For Sarah Chapelle, the manuscript of her life has been shaped by Taylor Swift's enchanting music about being a young woman. But as a journalist and fashion blogger, Chapelle's new book focuses on a part of the pop artist's iconography that is often left in a dazzling haze — her style.
Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras is a critical review of the mega pop star's fashion evolution alongside her career. Chapelle has been writing about Swift's style for the past 13 years on her Instagram and blog, Taylor Swift Style. In her book, Swift's definitive fashion eras, Easter eggs and trends are documented and analyzed.
From the hints the pop star will drop through her street style and the costuming of her music videos, Taylor Swift Style gives insight to the visual impact of the artist for Swifties and pop culture fans alike.
Chapelle is a Vancouver-based fashion writer, blogger and social media influencer with an audience on Instagram of over 349,000 followers as @taylorswiftstyled. Her writing has been featured in publications such as Harper's Bazaar and People Magazine. Taylor Swift Style is her first book.
Former Canada Reads panellist and fashion influencer Mirian Njoh was compelled by Chapelle's thoughts on the community she built around Swift's outfits.
"It's so cool that you guys can recognize [Swift's style] within each other. It's almost like a language spoken between the fandom."
Before the Eras Tour touches down in Toronto this November, Njoh and Chapelle share the fearless looks and invisible strings that tie Swift's style and songs together on The Next Chapter.
Let's talk about you and your affinity for Taylor Swift's style. How did it start?
I've been a fan of Taylor since 2006. I'm into my 30s now, so I've been a fan of Taylor's music for over half of my life. That's really where it all sort of started, but I've been documenting Taylor's fashion since 2011.
I loved the way that it could be used as this beautiful method of expression or identity exploration.- Sarah Chapelle
I started this blog, Taylor Swift Style, which is also the name of the book, when I was just a university student here in Vancouver studying journalism. At the time, I was obviously hoping to become a fashion writer working at a fashion magazine. I loved fashion, I loved the way that it could be used as this beautiful method of expression or identity exploration; I obviously also loved journalism and reporting and I loved Taylor and her fashion.
What was it like to look back on your own experiences through Taylor's different style eras?
I think that in analyzing her style and having this bird's eye view, you're really able to see this fashion evolution and musical evolution of one of the most incredible and well known pop stars of our generation. I've always felt like I've benefited from growing up in her wake.
I have been a fan since my teen years. Her albums have always kind of subsequently timed out to sum up the past two to three years of her life, but they would release when I was experiencing that in that very moment in time. Emotionally, there was so much kinship to feeling like I was bobbing in the ripples of her boat.
I hope that when people read this book, they feel the level of heart and authenticity that is put into it from somebody who's been a listener and a fan of hers for as long as I have.
Another thing I love about Taylor's style is that she is really great at mixing high end fashion with more affordable brands, that's really a pillar of her style. What do you think it is about that principle that's so appealing to her and her stylists?
She has a few style pillars at her disposal and one absolutely is this high-low approach to her fashion, which is mixing designer pieces with more accessible high street retailers. So she'll often turn to brands like Reformation or Free People or, if we want to be Canadian, Aritzia. This high-low really underlines a certain approachable ideal.
It's their way of a bat signal, telling other fans, 'I am a fan of hers.'- Sarah Chapelle
I can see myself reflected in this approach to styling as someone who loves and appreciates a high-end piece — but perhaps can only afford to budget these into my wardrobe intermittently, if ever. So it's really fascinating to see how she uses her style pillars like the high-low to continue to underpin her relatability.
I've been on a sold out book tour for the last two and a half weeks and the number of times in my signing lines I see people wearing Taylor Swift exacts that I have posted about ... It's their way of a bat signal, telling other fans, "I am a fan of hers."
It's a way of doing that without wearing official merchandise.
More than just the clothes and the celebrity, you also mentioned the community that you've built over the years thanks to Taylor Swift's style. What is it about Taylor and her fashion that brings people together?
I think everything about Taylor's brand is about, at its core, is community and connectivity. Her music forms this emotional gateway for us all to connect to ourselves, connect to her and then by extension, connect to each other because of our shared experiences,. our shared emotions and that sense of belonging and togetherness.
I don't know if you've been to an Eras Tour stop, but there's something truly transcendent about scream singing All Too Well (10 Minute Version) in a stadium of 70,000 people who feel that.
She's this generation's most prolific songwriter. We're very familiar, of course, with her confessional, emotional songs about her life. But her style is the other half of that story. It's the visual half that iconifies every era and makes for these memorable moments. There are these visual moments that stick out in our memories of her fashion and her accessible street style gives us this opportunity in this gateway to embody and live that life. As we walk around and live our everyday lives it's this visual piece of her that we're able to tap into and bring into our lives as this method of expression and exploration of our own identities.
That makes for a community and it's really incredible.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length. It was produced by Talia Kliot.
