Taylor Swift’s music has morphed in line with each of her many different eras, but she has been pretty consistent with her style over the years. The artist is more often than not found in some variation on a tea dress, accessorized with a red lip and winged eyeliner, and with the occasional grandma shoe thrown in for good measure.
But lately, the newlywed singer seems to be loosening the reins on her longtime formula, dabbling with WAG culture in Kansas City Chiefs tank tops, and most recently, venturing into what some might call an edgier—at least by Taylor Swift standards—new look.
She hasn’t let go of the showgirl dresses (note her appearance at the VMAs last weekend in a glittering Tamara Ralph gown), but her look for a date night in New York this week had none of the (floral, feminine) hallmarks of her usual approach. Instead she styled her black lace Simkhai midi-dress and strappy Jimmy Choo Azie leather heels under a far more Charli xcx-, or Zoë Kravitz-, or Hailey Bieber-coded oversized leather jacket by Saint Laurent, adding a Givenchy bucket bag and her Kindred Lubeck engagement ring..
Over the weekend, she also cinched another Simkhai off-the-shoulder dress with a Saint Laurent belt to appear on Saturday Night Live in support of her BFF Dakota Johnson.
Having just worked together on Taylor’s Patient Zero music video, perhaps the vampish Dakota’s influence is behind the addition of leather and lace to Swift’s after-dark oufits? The gingham dresses had a good run, but her wardrobe could well be ready for a new era of its own. Are you ready for it?