For Sarah Chapelle, the manuscript of her life was shaped by Taylor Swift’s enchanting music about being a young woman. But as a journalist and fashion blogger, Chapelle’s new book focuses on a part of the pop artist’s iconography that is often left in a dazzling blur: her style.

Taylor Swift style: fashion through the ages is a critical review of the mega pop star’s fashion evolution throughout her career. Chapelle has been writing about Swift’s style for 13 years on her Instagram and blog, Taylor Swift style. In her book, Swift’s definitive fashion eras, Easter eggs and trends are documented and analyzed.

Based on the pop star’s hints through her street style and music video costumes, Taylor Swift style provides insight into the artist’s visual impact for Swifties and pop culture fans alike.

Chapelle is a Vancouver-based fashion writer, blogger and social media influencer with an Instagram following of over 349,000 followers under the name @taylorswiftstyled. Her writing has been featured in publications such as Harper’s Bazaar and People Magazine. Taylor Swift style is his first book.

Ancient Canada reads Panelist and fashion influencer Mirian Njoh was fascinated by Chapelle’s thoughts on the community she built around Swift’s outfits.

“It’s so cool that you can recognize (Swift’s style) in each other. It’s almost like a language spoken between fandoms.”

Before the Eras tour hits Toronto in November, Njoh and Chapelle share the fearless looks and invisible strings that bind Swift’s style and songs on The next chapter.

Let’s talk about you and your affinity for Taylor Swift’s style. How did it start?

I’ve been a fan of Taylor since 2006. I’m in my 30s now, so I’ve been a fan of Taylor’s music for over half my life. That’s really where it all started, but I’ve been documenting Taylor’s fashion since 2011.

I loved how it could be used as this beautiful method of expression or exploration of identity.-Sarah Chapelle

I started this blog, Taylor Swift stylewhich is also the name of the book, when I was a university student here in Vancouver studying journalism. At the time, I obviously hoped to become a fashion writer by working for a fashion magazine. I loved fashion, I loved the way it could be used as this beautiful method of expression or exploration of identity; I obviously also loved journalism and reporting and I loved Taylor and her fashion.

What was it like looking back on your own experiences through Taylor’s different style eras?

I think by analyzing his style and having that big picture, you’re really able to see this fashion evolution and this musical evolution of one of the most incredible and well-known pop stars of our generation. I always felt like I benefited from growing up in his wake.

I’ve been a fan since I was a teenager. His albums were always kind of expired to encapsulate the last two or three years of his life, but they were coming out at the time I was experiencing that at that particular moment. Emotionally, there was so much kinship with the feeling of floating in the ripples of your boat.

I hope that when people read this book, they feel the level of heart and authenticity put into it by someone who has listened to it and been a fan for as long as I have.

Another thing I love about Taylor’s style is that she’s really good at mixing high-end fashion with more affordable brands, it’s really a pillar of her style. In your opinion, what is it about this principle that appeals so much to her and her stylists?

She has a few style pillars at her disposal and one of them is absolutely this high-low approach to her fashion, which mixes designer pieces with more accessible retailers. She therefore often turns to brands like Reformation or Free People or, if you want to be Canadian, Aritzia. This high-low really emphasizes a certain accessible ideal.

It’s their way of waving at the bats, telling other fans, “I’m a fan of her.”-Sarah Chapelle

I see myself reflected in this approach to style as someone who loves and appreciates high-end pieces – but who perhaps can only afford to incorporate them into my wardrobe intermittently, if ever. So it’s really fascinating to see how she uses her style pillars like high-low to continue to support her relatability.

I’ve been on a sold-out book tour for the last two and a half weeks and the amount of times in my signature lines I see people wearing the exact Taylor Swifts I posted about… It’s is their way of giving a bat signal, telling other fans, “I’m a fan of her.”

This is a way to do it without wearing official merchandise.

Beyond the clothes and fame, you also talked about the community you’ve built over the years through Taylor Swift’s style. What is it about Taylor and her fashion that brings people together?

I think everything about the Taylor brand is all about community and connectivity. Her music forms this emotional gateway that allows us all to connect to ourselves, to her and then, by extension, to connect to each other through our shared experiences. our shared emotions and this feeling of belonging and unity.

I don’t know if you’ve been to an Eras Tour stop, but there’s something truly transcendent about howled singing. Too good (10 minute version) in a stadium of 70,000 people feeling that way.

She is the most prolific songwriter of this generation. We are very familiar, of course, with his confessional and moving songs about his life. But his style is the other half of that story. It is the visual part that symbolizes each era and creates these memorable moments. There are these visual moments that stay with us in our memories of his fashion and his approachable street style gives us that opportunity, in that front door, to embody and live that life. When we walk around and live our daily lives, it is this visual part of her that we can harness and bring into our lives as a method of expressing and exploring our own identities.

It creates a community and it’s truly amazing.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. It was produced by Talia Kliot.