- Taylor Swift's costumes will be shown across 13 installations at London's Victoria & Albert Museum in its "Songbook Trail" free exhibit.
- The display includes outfits from her early career, including her "Taylor Swift" and "Speak Now" albums.
- A cardigan from the music video of the same name is also featured, as is a Victorian-style outfit Swift wore in the video for "Fortnight" from her latest album "The Tortured Poets Department."
Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour" has helped the singer become a billionaire and boosted the economies of the multiple cities she's performed in. Fans attending her U.K. shows spent upward of $1,000 each on tickets, accommodation and travel.
Now, a new Taylor Swift show is coming to London — and it's free.
Starting Saturday, July 27, the U.K. capital's Victoria & Albert Museum (known as the V&A South Kensington) will exhibit Swift's "looks," including gowns, custom cowboy boots and ballet shoes, as well as musical instruments. The collection will be on display until Sept. 8.
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The V&A's "Songbook Trail" will display 13 installations, each exploring an era of Swift's career. The Victorian-inspired black dress she wore in the video for her 2024 song "Fortnight" features in the exhibit, as well as a lavender tulle dress from her 2023 "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" album cover. A total of 16 outfits will be shown.
Personal items from Swift's early career are also included, such as the costume she wore during her 2008 "Fearless" tour to perform "Love Story," and the Taylor Koa guitar from the "Soul2Soul II" tour in 2006-07.
The V&A's "Taylor Swift: Songbook Trail"
The exhibit includes costumes and other items from Swift's personal archive, and is designed to show the singer's "celebrated looks," according to the V&A's Kate Bailey, senior curator for theater and performance. It is being shown in the museum's permanent galleries.
"Each intimate encounter will celebrate a chapter in the artist's musical journey. Taylor Swift's songs like objects tell stories, often drawing from art, history and literature," Bailey said in an emailed statement. "We hope this specially created theatrical trail across the museum will inspire the imagination of curious visitors as they discover more about the performer, her creativity and V&A objects," she added.
Swift was just 16 when she released solo album "Taylor Swift," and performed during country singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw's "Soul2Soul II Tour" that year. The V&A exhibit includes a frilled, turquoise dress she wore during the tour.
In 2010, Swift released "Speak Now," which reflects on her transition to adulthood. It became one of several albums re-recorded under a "Taylor's Version" moniker, a move Swift made in an effort to control her own master recordings. The lavender dress she wore on the back cover of the "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" album is displayed, along with a ukulele she played on the "Speak Now World Tour."
The exhibition also includes a cardigan Swift wore during a 2020 music video of the same name and a red gown by American-Japanese designer Tadashi Shoji that she wore in the music video for 2021 song "I Bet You Think About Me."
Wembley Stadium murals
The V&A isn't the only place to showcase Swift during "The Eras Tour." Two large murals can be seen close to London's Wembley Stadium, where the singer will perform next month. A colorful work, named "Auras," has been created by artist Frank Styles, and is displayed on steps leading up to the stadium.
A second mural, named "...Ready For It?" shows Swift alongside song lyrics, which were spray-painted on a wall close to the steps. Created by street artists MurWalls and Humor, it is on permanent display.
