It would appear that Taylor Swift’s been hinting at her “Tortured Poets Department” track list for months.GC Images
Taylor Swift released her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” on Friday to much fanfare — and true to form, she was seemingly dropping hints at the project’s track list as far back as last fall.
As Taylor Swift Style blogger Sarah Chapelle pointed out on Instagram over the weekend, the pop superstar accessorized several of her appropriately academia-inspired fall and winter outfits with pieces that share names with the characters in her new songs.
Many of Swift’s recent street style looks — like this checked Stella McCartney coat-and-miniskirt combo from December — feel Sylvia Plath-coded.GC Images
“Taylor has always said that she loves using fashion as a way to foreshadow future works,” Chapelle tells Page Six Style.
“I think she enjoys it when fans comb back through the previous year to pick up the things we was silently communicating to us about her state of mind and what she was working on.”
In October, for instance, Swift was spotted at LA hotspot Sushi Park with her hair pulled back by an Anthropologie Aimee Claw Hair Clip ($24 for three); the back half of “TTPD” features a track called “thanK you aIMee,” which is widely believed to be about her long-running feud with Kim Kardashian, based on the title’s telling capitalization.
She pulled her hair back with an Anthropologie Aimee clip in Oct. 2023.MEGA
Anthropologie Aimee Claw Hair Clip Set
Anthropologie
“At least she changed any real defining clues,” Chapelle quipped in her Instagram Reel spotlighting the apparent Easter egg, quoting lyrics from the tune.
“unhinged behaviour,” a follower cracked in the comments.
Then, in November, the chart-topper toted a deep green Saint Laurent Cassandra Shoulder Bag ($2,850) while out and about in NYC; “Tortured Poets” includes a song named after and inspired by Cassandra of Troy, the Greek mythological figure who was given the gift of prophecy, but cursed by the god Apollo so her warnings would never be believed.
The songstress carried a Saint Laurent Cassandra bag in NYC in Nov. 2023.GC Images
Saint Laurent Cassandra Shoulder Bag
Saks Fifth Avenue
“This is actually insane,” one fan commented on Chapelle’s Reel highlighting the connection.
“Omg!!!! Mastermind,” wrote another.
And in January, Swift finished one of her quiet-luxury looks with a pair of The Row’s Robin Boots ($1,290) — three months before dropping a track titled “Robin” that explores the delicate innocence of childhood.
And in Jan. 2024, she headed to the recording studio wearing The Row’s Robin boots.GC Images
These aren’t the only sartorial Easter eggs Swifties have spotted so far during the songstress’ “TTPD” era.
In the music video for lead single “Fortnight,” Swift wears a dramatic white Maticevski gown strikingly similar to the Schiaparelli Haute Couture design she selected for February’s Grammys — and similarly accessorized with a choker fashioned from a vintage wristwatch.
