50,000 rhinestones and a year in the making: The Swifties DIY-ing outfits from scratch

While Taylor Swift mania has been heating up over the past few weeks in Australia, for many fans, the anticipation over the star’s arrival has been a long time in the making.

Swift has sparked a DIY movement among fans eager to pay tribute to their beloved pop star – many of whom had never touched a sewing machine before. Armed with glue guns, thread and enough rhinestones to fill an arena 50 times over, many Swifties are painstakingly making their concert outfits from scratch. For many, this means recreating a look beat-for-beat, while others are putting their own creative twist on a Taylor classic.

For retailers, the surge in DIY fashion – whether for friendship bracelets or sequins – has been huge. Anne Copeland, owner of Sparkle & Co Crystals, a Melbourne-based supply store with an online platform, says she has noticed a huge increase in demand for crafts in the past six months. According to Copeland, blue – the defining colour of Swift’s most recent album, Midnights – has been the most popular colour by far – with a 200 per cent increase in sales of blue crystals. She has tripled her stock orders.

“It’s been really impressive,” she says of the burgeoning craft movement. “I joined a couple of Facebook pages myself just so that I could see what the trend was and get a feel for it, and it’s blowing my mind really.”

Retail chain Spotlight has taken advantage of the soaring demand, launching dedicated marketing campaigns, new products and DIY guides for concert-goers.

Dr Georgia Carroll, a self-confessed Swiftie and sociologist who specialises in fan and celebrity studies, says while people have always dressed up for concerts, it’s become far more widespread in recent years. Coming out of the gloomy years of lockdown, she thinks the tour is a way for fans to experience a “communal feeling where they’re all just having fun and don’t have to be afraid of judgment in these happy spaces”.

The trend of dressing up – which Australian fans have witnessed for months as Swift has toured the northern hemisphere – has continued to snowball. Now, Carroll says, dressing up and donning recognisable symbols from Swift’s visual universe is a way for fans to build relationships with one another and feel like they’re part of a community.

The project of love

For Danielle Galvin, a fat lived experience peer support advocate living in Brisbane, the upcoming Eras tour will be her first time seeing Swift live. Despite being a long-time fan, she grew up in Cairns and says she did not always have the financial means to see the pop star live.

For Galvin, 31, who will be attending two nights of the Eras tour in Sydney, making her outfits has also been a labour of love.

Galvin and her fiancé Julia Duncan were originally set up by a friend due to their shared love of Taylor Swift. The pair have been working together on their costumes for months.

“It’s been a really fun project of love between us because we get to collaborate and make all four of our costumes together,” says Galvin.

Their individual skill sets – Galvin’s as a keen crafter, and Duncan’s as a hobby sewer – have made them the perfect team to realise their handmade looks.

Galvin’s Lover bodysuit and matching bag featuring an engraving of a lyric from the song Cruel Summer.Credit: Jamila Toderas

Galvin has recreated two of Swift’s onstage looks for the Eras tour that debuted during her American performances. The Lover bodysuit – a Versace bodysuit encrusted with pastel sequins, and Reputation bodysuit– a one-legged black catsuit with red sequinned snakes. “They’re two very distinct, different kind of personalities. So I thought that would be fun,” she says.

Duncan made the base of the bodysuit from scratch for Galvin, a decision the pair made after seeing issues other fans had when making theirs. On her Lover bodysuit alone, Galvin estimates she’s used between 40,000 and 50,000 rhinestones.

Being plus size, Galvin says she chose to hand make both her outfits because finding costumes that fit properly can be “difficult and expensive”.

She adds, “I wanted to show people that regardless of what body size you are, you can still dress up even if you don’t look like Taylor. It’s really important for me to represent that.”

The father-son moment

Steven Sloan and son Rupert in their handmade shirts. The “Stephen” name patch is a reference to Swift’s song Hey Stephen.Credit: Jason South

Steven Sloan, a 46-year-old father of three from Geelong, has been a Swift fan since the release of Fearless in 2012, but until having kids says he was a “closet” fan.

“I was probably around 32 when that song [Love Story] came out. Liking Taylor Swift at the time was frowned upon; she was like that little kids pop star ... so you had to keep it on the quiet,” says Sloan, although he notes he did walk down the aisle to You Belong With Me when he married his husband in 2009.

Since the birth of his children and Swift’s steady rise to the global megastar she is today, Sloan no longer feels this way. “Having kids gave permission to be an all-out Swiftie – you could hide behind them.”

“They were brought up with her from the beginning,” he continues. “I mean, just when they were learning to talk, they were learning to sing Taylor Swift songs in the car.”

The stay-at-home dad, who is no stranger to sewing, says he initially recreated the glittery ringmaster ensemble Swift wore at the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards and on her 2013 RED tour but ultimately decided they’d be too uncomfortable in a hot arena environment.

Instead, Sloan found a fabric printed with illustrations of Swift in her different eras, which he made into matching shirts for him and his nine-year-old son Rupert. “They’re kind of the same style that Alan wears in the Barbie movie, which feels very current,” he says.

Rupert is excited to wear something that “represents Taylor Swift”, and loves that the star “plays her own instruments and writes her own songs”.

For his two other children, Sloan has made a pink dress and Reputation-inspired costume (their outfits were not complete at the time of this interview).

For his part, Sloan loves Swift’s ability to bring people together. “I just believe it’s a really safe space, and people can be outside of their comfort zone. They’re surrounded by like-minded people. I mean, Taylor Swift is the definition of community, really.”

The revenge dress

Camille Lescai on the steps of the Sydney Opera House wearing her recreation of Swift’s 2022 Oscar de la Renta dress.Credit: Janie Barrett

For Camille Lescai a 32-year-old retail strategist from Sydney, her concert outfit is something of a revenge dress. Last year, Lescai was the target of relentless online trolling after posting a TikTok of her pink wedding dress, which many deemed unconventional for its colour (the video went so viral her story was picked up by Australian news outlets).

Lescai chose to recreate Swift’s red carpet look from the 2022 MTV VMAs, a lavish Oscar de la Renta mini dress dripping in silver chains and crystals with Lorraine Schwartz jewels.

Fittingly, the look was worn during Swift’s Reputation-era, a period in which the star sought to take back control of her own narrative following a years-long feud with Kanye West and the Kardashian family.

Reputation, of course, is her favourite album. “I definitely am a Reputation girl through and through because I’m very petty. I think petty Taylor is my favourite. I just think that’s relatable.”

“That’s where I identified with Look What You Made Me Do, where I take back that power or when people call you out, you go ‘are you really going to stand by what you said?’”

Camille Lescai took inspiration from Swift’s 2022 MTV VMA’s red carpet look and the music video for her song Look What You Made Me Do.Credit: Getty/YouTube

She decided to learn to sew specifically to make this outfit to wear to the Eras Tour – practising by making a dress for the Barbie movie, among other things. Like many other endeavouring Swifties, Lescai crowdsourced tips for the construction of her garment on TikTok.

“[I realised] Oh, I’m actually really good at sewing,” she says. “Now I have this entire skill, all thanks to Taylor Swift.”

What has she learned from the DIY experience? “You’re allowed to give things a go, and it’s okay if things are imperfect,” she says.

“I really love the craftiness that has come out of this Taylor Swift movement. I think a lot of people feel pressure and think if it’s not 100 per cent perfect, it’s not worth doing. But I completely disagree with that.”

‘One of the biggest monocultural moments I’ve felt in a long time’

Katy Humm from Geelong has recreated three of Swift’s iconic concert looks: the Reputation, Midnights (pictured wearing) and Lover bodysuits.Credit: Jason South

Twenty-seven-year-old Katy Humm started working on her concert outfits before tickets for the Australian leg of Swift’s tour even went on sale.

The Geelong-based small business owner says her love affair with the pop star began when she received the Fearless album for Christmas in 2008. Echoing a sentiment described by many Millennial and Generation Z fans, Humm feels like she came of age with Swift. “As she grew up, her music changed, and the topics of her songs changed – they became a little bit more serious and adult. I felt like I was growing with her, and so I didn’t really have that growing out of something that you might typically have.”

Humm recreated three of Swift’s Eras tour looks – the Lover, Midnights and Reputation bodysuits, as well as the Karma fringe jacket – all of which started popping up on social media in March 2023. Being such early days, Humm says there weren’t many other fans starting to recreate her outfits, but she eventually befriended two US fans over social media who were able to offer tips. She has since made two extra bodysuits for friends.

Humm has spent over $5000 on her three costumes. She says it’s hard to estimate how many hours she’s devoted to the project, but guesses the total is easily somewhere in the hundreds.

Humm, who has ADHD, says the project was a way to keep herself occupied. “I’m not somebody that can, on the weekends, just sit down and watch TV. I need to do something to my hands ... I’m always doing some sort of craft anyway.”

In today’s landscape of infinite subcultures, Humm says the Eras tour offers a rare moment for community. “It’s a monocultural moment, and because of streaming and stuff, we don’t really get monocultural moments any more. The Eras tour and the Barbie movie are the two biggest monocultural moments I’ve felt in a long time.”

The designer and the muse

Fashion designer Jacob Aquilina recreated the Lover bodysuit for friend Alex Mackintosh.Credit: Edwina Pickles

For friends Alex Mackintosh, 27, and Jacob Aquilina, 25, the idea to recreate one of Swift’s iconic looks started as a joke when the pair were working together. But as the US leg of the Eras tour started to be broadcast across social media, the idea took shape. “I just got so inspired by everything, and as a fashion designer, I just loved the looks and really connected through her fashion,” says Aquilina. With Mackintosh as his muse, Aquilina got to work on a painstaking recreation of Swift’s Lover bodysuit.

For Mackintosh, a Sydney-based social media manager and diehard Swiftie, the phenomenon of dressing up for concerts is not new. A fan since she was 11, Mackintosh has been to every single one of Swift’s tours since Fearless, recreating many of her iconic looks.

For her, Taylor Swift was an escape. “Growing up, I didn’t have any friends. I was very heavily bullied. And the one thing for me is, I found Taylor Swift and the community because I was online at a very young age.”

“I’ve always loved make-up and dressing up ... and now it’s a trend which is really funny because you feel like, you know, you were made fun of for doing it.”

This is not Aquilina’s first time working with sparkles – the young designer created a custom jacket for Sam Smith when they performed in Australia in 2018 – but it’s certainly his biggest project so far. He says the bodysuit took 350 hours, over 20,000 diamantes and months of fittings and collaboration with Mackintosh.

Aquilina will be wearing a white Dion Lee corset, which he has customised with the same sequins used on Mackintosh’s bodysuit. Playing the role of the humble designer, he’s kept his look simple – “I want her to have her moment,” he says.

‘It’s their first concert. I want them to have the entire experience’

Siblings Byron, 10, and Emahlia, 7 rocking the Swift-inspired outfits their mum made for them.Credit: Jason South

While some adults pass on their love of Taylor Swift to their children, for single mum Emma Madley, currently studying a Bachelor of Health Science, it was the other way around. Based in Melbourne, Madley says it was her seven-year-old daughter Emahlia and 10-year-old son Byron who passed on the Swiftie bug.

“Once I started to actually listen to her albums, I was like, ‘wow, she’s actually really amazing, she’s so relatable’, I feel like her music touches on points in everyone’s life,” she says.

“I always say to my friends, ‘I wish I had been so invested in her as I am now when I was a teenager’, because the things that you go through as a teenager — relationships, boyfriends, friends – her music just touches on all of it.”

The 34-year-old has recreated Swift’s Lover bodysuit for Emahlia, who loves what her mum has made. “She’s obsessed with it. It’s hanging on her door at the moment and she literally just walks out and looks at it. Smiles and goes, ‘oh, that’s so cute’. She does that like 10 times a day”

Emahlia says she’s looking forward to “having a really fun time” at the concert and loves Swift because “she’s really good at singing”. For her older brother Byron, who loves that Swift “sings about what she’s been through”, Madley has made a Reputation-inspired outfit.

“It’s their first concert that they’re going to, and I’m a single parent. I’m massive on when we get to do things like this. I want them to have the entire experience.”

As a parent, Madley is happy for her kids to look up to Swift as a role model.

“The Swiftie community is probably one of the most beautiful communities I’ve ever come across. And that’s one of the reasons why I’m really excited about taking them to the concert, just being in that atmosphere of like-minded, kind people. I just fully believe in immersing that into them and allowing that to be their influence. This is what they love, and I feel like, as parents, our job is to support their interests.”

In addition to making her children’s outfits, Madley has crafted some boxes in which to preserve them after the concert. “Hopefully, they can keep them for the rest of their lives and be able to reflect back, and they’ll have the memories from the concert attached to the outfit.”

For Madley, her own concert outfit is the last thing on her mind. “I’ve focused on getting their outfits done first, and then mine will just be whatever I can pull together.”

‘All the fans on TikTok are so supportive’

Jacquie Addison spent seven months creating her Karma jacket and Midnights bodysuit.

A fan since the 2008 Fearless era, Adelaide-based Jacquie Addison made a promise to herself that if she managed to get her hands on an “impossible ticket”, she would embrace the opportunity to go all out and replicate one of Swift’s tour outfits. Speak Now is her favourite album, but the costume choice was simple: the Oscar de la Renta Midnights bodysuit, first created with 5300 hand-embroidered crystals and beads and Karma jacket. Addison’s version was the first time she created anything on this scale, bejewelling manually across seven months to get it as close to Swift’s costume as possible.

“I just slowly paced myself as I didn’t want to rush it or make any mistakes it was roughly $1000 all up as well I recently worked out,” says the 24-year-old, who is attending night three in Melbourne.

Inspired by a line in Swift’s You’re On Your Own, Kid, Addison is joining the many fans making beaded friendship bracelets. She is mostly sticking to making joke bracelets with funny quotes Taylor has said over the years, including her favourite, “Yes Whale”.

For Addison, seeing TikTok trends and tour outfits from her US legs also was a major influence in giving her enough confidence to wear a bodysuit for the first time to a concert.

“Many others are making them seem normal. The Eras Tour is such a wholesome, friendly place where you can dress how you want without feeling unease or being unsafe,” adding she has received a lot of positive feedback from Swifties on Tiktok.

“They’re loving the outfit and asking for tips on how I made it, especially the karma jacket, all the fans on TikTok are so supportive.”

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