After a few seemingly Easter-egg-free weeks on the Eras Tour, Taylor Swift's latest outfit looks like it's sending Swifties a message through one teeny-tiny accessory: the custom Lorraine Schwartz watch choker Swift first wore at the 2024 Grammys in February.
For a night out to dinner in London with her squad before her Liverpool, England, performances—and her one hundredth Eras Tour show on Thursday, June 13—Taylor Swift was photographed Tuesday, June 11, wearing a moody outfit befitting her Tortured Poets Department fashion era. Styled by Joseph Cassell Falconer, the look featured a sharp-lapeled longline coat and a black jacquard bustier top by Stella McCartney plus flared black pants by the same designer. She accessorized with Gucci slingback pumps and a Gucci mini Jackie bag—but those weren't the stars of the outfit.
All eyes went to Swift's timepiece necklace (online, at least). The beaded watch choker glittered around Swift's neck, and unlike at the Grammys, she didn't style it with a strand of diamonds. Snaps of the full outfit were shared widely on X, formerly known as Twitter, before photos were made available to journalists stateside.
The watch necklace came back into rotation for a dinner with a stacked guest list. Cara Delevingne, Kate Moss, Lena Dunham, two of the Haim sisters, Andrew Scott, and Stella McCartney joined Swift (and her message-laden outfit) for the evening out. (More photos are currently available on X.) Swift might have set a squad dress code: Many of her friends wore all black or shades of gray coordinating with the "Fortnight" singer's outfit and several of them were dressed by McCartney.
Swift debuted the timepiece, featuring a white dial and a sparkling black strap, on a historic night for her career. She took home two Grammy Awards in February—including for Album of the Year, for Midnights—and used her acceptance speech to reveal the imminent arrival of The Tortured Poets Department, rather than fans' prediction for a Reputation (Taylor's Version) announcement.
On the red carpet back in February, Swift also dialed fans into her watch necklace's significance. Just before walking in front of the cameras, People first reported, Swift asked her stylist to set the watch's hands to midnight—hinting to fans through the detail that an announcement was headed their way during the Grammys ceremony.
Swifties remembered the reference and began analyzing her latest outfit accordingly on X. Some noticed that the watch hands were set to around 1:20 this time; others simply clocked (sorry!) that the choker was last seen when Swift had major news to share.
Some Swifties are so far taking the watch choker's reappearance as a sign of a major announcement at the one hundredth show, with her necklace symbolizing a countdown. Swift filmed the video for a Speak Now (Taylor's Version) vault track, "I Can See You," in Liverpool, where she'll be performing this evening. The video follows former stars of a Swift video breaking the singer out of a vault—symbolizing how she's re-claiming her music through re-recording it—and then driving off to a new location in the city. It might have been setting the table for the next re-recorded album to return to listeners. Reputation (Taylor's Version) is high on fans' radars: Along with Swift's squad of models, actors, and designers, the album's original photographer, Mert Alas, reportedly joined the Tuesday evening dinner.
Potential hidden messages aside, Swift's necklace is doing more than making a self-reference and sending fans into a tailspin. There's also watch choker trend taking hold among fashion insiders. Celebrities including Emma Chamberlain, Rihanna, and Megan Thee Stallion have repurposed dainty watches into statement jewelry at fashion week and on their own time.
Swift's more recent off-duty outfits have prioritized her true personal style over leaving hints for fans to analyze. After starting the tour's European leg in Paris, she packed date night classics like an LBD and trench coat for a romantic stay in Italy with boyfriend Travis Kelce. Stopping by pal Cara Delevingne's performance of Cabaret in London, she cuddled up in an oversize blue sweater styled as a mini dress. Both pieces were consistent with Swift's favorite designers (Alaïa for the former, Stella McCartney for the latter), but they didn't appear to have product names or details indicative of any deeper meaning.
Now that Swift is in front of photographers again, trust that there's something she wanted fans to see (and decode). Is the watch choker in fact a wink at new (or re-recorded)? A countdown for another Tortured Poets music video? An alarm for everyone to actually stop speculating?
Swift returns to the stage on a significant date: Thursday, June 13, which includes her lucky number (13) and marks her one hundredth show on the Eras Tour. The dominoes certainly seem to be cascading in a line. As one fan wrote on X when the photos surfaced on Tuesday, "Liverpool, count your blessings, you're definitely having something cool happen at your show."
Editor's Note: This story has been updated with additional outfit credits and photos of Taylor Swift.
