Blogger who knows Taylor Swift’s wardrobe better than just about anyone is coming to KC
Just hours before we recently chatted with fashion blogger and author Sarah Chapelle, big Taylor Swift fashion news broke.
Swift’s makeup artist Lorrie Turk revealed one of Swift’s longtime favorite lipsticks: the cream version of “Morocco” by Nars, a warm, pink-brown cinnamon shade. It got a lot of attention when Swift wore it to the VMAs in September.
That was breaking news for Chapelle, who before she took our call moved quickly to post the details about the lipstick on her popular Instagram account, Taylor Swift Styled.
Since she began writing about Swift’s fashion in 2011, Chapelle has become the go-to source for intel about the superstar’s wardrobe, from what she wears on red carpets and the Eras Tour stage to date-night looks with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Her new book based on her blog — ”Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras” — debuted this week and Chapelle is coming to Kansas City to talk about it.
She’ll speak at the second Heartland Book Festival on Saturday at the downtown Kansas City Public Library, 14 W. 10th St. The workshops, panels, and activities, for adults and children, are free and open to the public.
Tickets to Chapelle’s one-hour talk at 11:15 a.m. are spoken for, but drop-ins are welcome, library officials said. There’s info at heartlandbookfest.org.
On Instagram, Chapelle breaks down, in great detail, every piece of every outfit Swift wears in public, head to toe, earrings to thigh-high boots, the hair and makeup. She reviews the looks, too. “Critically kind fashion commentary,” she calls it.
She spends so much time online researching designers and knows so well the brands Swift favors — Oscar de la Renta is a longtime favorite; Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood newer faves — she’s able to get the information out quickly for Swifties.
Since Swift began dating Kelce last year, that also means sourcing every outfit Swift wears to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and away games.
If Swift is at a Chiefs game, you can assume Chapelle is working.
“I have actually taken to putting the entire football schedule on my calendar so that day is blocked for work,” she told The Star.
Chapelle, who lives in Vancouver, Canada, is excited to come to Kansas City where Swift has single-handedly changed how women dress for NFL games. How many things have gone viral after Swift wore them here?
Latest example: Fazit Beauty, the company that sells the glitter freckles Swift wore to the Saints game Monday, saw sales and web traffic skyrocket by more than 1,000% in just 12 hours, according to the company’s founder.
“I already feel so welcomed by the Kansas City community,” Chapelle said.
Swifties helped with book
Out of hundreds of outfits Swift has worn throughout her career, Chapelle chose about 200 for the book that show the superstar’s style evolution, from her 2014 “1989” album era to “Midnights” in 2022 and her current Eras Tour stage fashions.
She also made a point to include outfits that fans might not have seen before. “One of my favorite comments has been, ‘Oh, I’ve never seen that look before,’” she said.
As much as Swift’s fashion is “window dressing” for whatever era is at hand, “there are a lot of elements that remain recognizable,” she said.
Swift, for example, enjoys wearing dresses and pleated miniskirts, and “a lot of sequins and sparkles has definitely remained keen,” she said.
Swift is “generally trend agnostic ... she doesn’t participate in trends or seek to set them. She might dabble in certain aesthetics but I don’t think it’s a priority,” she said. “I think that authenticity is what fans relate to so much.”
Chapelle began writing a Swift fashion blog in 2011 while she was in college studying journalism. “At the time I did it because it felt like it was the intersection of all my greatest passions — Taylor and her music, fashion and style, fashion reporting and storytelling,” she said.
She created a niche in the world of fashion reporting, commenting on the context and nuance behind Swift’s clothes, the messages she is known to send with them, how she uses clothing like her music to tell stories.
“Social media certainly wasn’t what it was at the time,” Chapelle said. “And star reporting wasn’t as granular as it is now. Fashion coverage mostly focused on red carpets and big award shows.
“I felt more interested in those candid, intimate moments that fans like me could relate to. I feel like that’s a huge core of Taylor’s presence as a celebrity.”
A book editor who followed her Instagram, a fellow Swiftie, approached Chapelle last year about writing the book. “I just feel very uniquely qualified to tell this story because it matters to me and I feel I’ve been doing it so long and still have a passion and joy,” she said.
Her 345,000 Instagram followers don’t know that they helped her choose the 200-plus outfits featured in the book. She covertly ran a poll on the account last year asking them to choose Swift’s most iconic looks.
People asked if they would ever see the poll results. Eventually, she told them, keeping secret that she was writing the book.
“This is a book written by a fan with help from fans,” she said.
Swift’s WAG style
Swift always approaches her fashion choices with intention and thought, Chapelle said, “and I love that her Chiefs playbook has also reflected that.”
“She’s really created a reliable uniform look for game day,” she said. “She’ll incorporate a lot of vintage fashion, designs owned by women or female-founded brands.
“I think a key signature of her Chiefs style playbook has been sentimental accessories that evoke a certain heart on your sleeve feeling. So she’s worn a custom bracelet that has TNT, obviously a nod to Taylor and Travis.
“She’s worn a lot of Kansas City local pieces, which is amazing to see her selecting vendors local to the Kansas City area.”
Chapelle especially liked what Swift wore to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas — “Crystal Slit” jeans by Area ($695) and a $140 bomber jacket by @wearbyea while carrying a $4,495 Judith Leiber crystal clutch shaped like a football.
She also wore a $720 crochet corset.
“This happens to be Taylor’s first time wearing Dion Lee who is an Australian fashion designer,” Chapelle wrote. “To me, this reads as a nice callout to the fact that Taylor has Aussie fans on the brain as she’ll of course be heading there next on the Eras Tour (first Melbourne, then Sydney).”
When it came to choosing which outfit to feature on the book cover, Chapelle wanted to showcase a look that merged Swift’s importance to the worlds of fashion and music, a sweet spot on the Venn diagram of pop culture, music and fashion.
So she chose the custom, satin de la Renta gown Swift wore to the 2014 Met Gala, one of the most iconic looks she’s worn to fashion’s biggest night. Swift hasn’t been to the event in several years and fans can’t wait to see her walk that famous red carpet with Kelce.
“I think fans would be very excited to see a red carpet moment between the two of them,” she said.
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