Taylor Swift’s Cowboy Boots, Costumes and Personal Archives Will Be on Display This Summer at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum
London’s Victoria and Albert Museum is celebrating Taylor Swift in a big way this summer. Opening July 27, the “Taylor Swift | Songbook Trail” exhibit celebrates the superstar with 13 stops, showcasing a different chapter in the songbook of her career.
Each display will be featured in the V&A’s permanent galleries and will present 16 looks on loan
from Swift’s personal archives. Costumes include custom cowboy boots worn during her
breakout success as a country singer in 2007 along with the jet-black ruffled shoulder dress worn in her recent “Fortnight” music video.
Designed by Tom Piper — best known for his stage designs for the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as his Tower of London poppies and V&A exhibition “Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser” — each installation will be theatrically staged, bringing to life a different era of the singer’s musical career through set dressing, music video and sound.
The exhibition marks the success of Swift’s U.K. Eras Tour and the ones that will take place in London’s Wembley Stadium on Aug. 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20.
Kate Bailey, senior curator of Theatre & Performance, said: “We are delighted to be able to
display a range of iconic looks worn by Taylor Swift at the V&A this summer. Each celebrating a
chapter in the artist’s musical journey. Taylor Swift’s songs, like objects, tell stories, often drawing from art, history and literature. We hope this theatrical trail across the museum will inspire curious visitors to discover more about the performer, her creativity and V&A objects.”
Each display celebrates the creativity of her costumes, lyrics and music videos as the costumes sit alongside instruments, music awards, storyboards and previously unseen archival that explores her childhood and recording legacy.
“Taylor Swift | Songbook Trail” exhibit closes Sept. 8.