We can all agree Taylor Swift’s style has shifted significantly between football seasons. Gone are the days of vintage Chiefs merch sourced from local Kansas City boutiques and hand-knit “87” beanies gifted from fans. This year’s Stadium Struts—as I’m coining her Arrowhead pap walks—have been all about repping luxury fashion labels.
Though fans once said Swift kicked off football season in her “baddie era,” with high-low moments favoring corsets, thigh-high boots, and a refreshing mix of designer pieces, the discourse has taken a bit of a turn as the season progressed. Now some fans say she’s ditched her signature accessibility factor altogether.
For the past two playoff games, Swift has entered Arrowhead in head-to-toe Chanel and Louis Vuitton looks, with her latest game-day ’fit featuring a logo-heavy Louis Vuitton zip-up, branded gloves, and a beanie with one final gold LV. Even outside the stadium we’ve seen Swift dripping in Gucci logos on multiple nights out, a move some of her fans say is a “jarring” change for a pop star who’s always made relatability a tentpole of her street-style choices.
The culprit, many fans proclaim, is her bold-dressing boyfriend Travis Kelce. “This is Travis’s fault, I’m sorry,” SwiftTok analyst @theswiftologist (a.k.a. Zachary) said of a head-to-toe Gucci look she wore on a December date night, describing the NFL player as a “hype beast.”
“I feel like it’s a very ‘bro culture’ thing to be super into labels specifically, and Taylor decided, ‘Let me have a go at that,’” the pop culture TikToker said in the video, which has over 12,800 likes.
A few weeks after that, Zachary spoke highly of the red faux-fur coat Swift wore to the Chiefs-Texans game in late December, though they suggested her Chanel bucket hat was “in line with her recent obsession with being a hype beast.” One commenter replied to that video, “The hat has to be a gift from Travis.”
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Zachary and their followers are far from the only Swifties crediting Kelce for her recent sartorial choices. After Swift arrived at the Chiefs-Bills game in that controversial head-to-toe LV look, TikTok user Lydia Hawken received over 20,700 likes on a video titled, “Has Travis Kelce ruined Taylor Swift’s personal style?”
“When it comes to her game-day wardrobe, I’ve never seen her quite so preoccupied with labels,” Hawken said in the video, displaying multiple looks before homing in on the “divisive” Louis Vuitton ensemble. “She was essentially a walking billboard for Louis Vuitton, and you know who loves Louis Vuitton?” The answer, it seems, is the NFL player, who has repped the famous logo on numerous occasions over the years.
Of course, not everyone is bothered by Kelce’s alleged influence. “I feel like Travis picked this outfit and I love it,” one Instagram user responded to an insightful breakdown of the look by Taylor Swift style expert Sarah Chappell, who had not even mentioned Kelce in her post. Another commenter called it a “Travis-coded outfit,” adding, “I’m not mad about it.”
Still, others think this characterization strips Swift of her autonomy. “Maybe let’s stop categorizing her style based on her dating status,” wrote X.com user @repiscrumbling in response to a user who claimed Swift’s style was “at its peak“ between her reported fling with Matty Healy and the NFL player. Thousands of Swifties agreed, with one user replying, “Taylor always goes through phases/eras with style, as well as changing style in different seasons like everyone else, it has nothing to do with her boyfriend she’s just having fun with clothes.”
I’m personally inclined to agree with @repiscrumbling, though I do think Swift’s latest style era is worth unpacking—and I can’t wait to see what she wears to the Super Bowl.
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