This week, the Eras Tour returns to the UK for the final leg of Taylor Swift’s record-breaking run in Europe.
As fans descend upon London, there will be gorgeous outfits, singalongs, and, crucially, the exchanging of homemade friendship bracelets, often with acronyms, lyrics and charms laced on.
The trend is widespread, with some fans even taking hundreds of bracelets to exchange at the shows and even Taylor Swift’s partner Travis Kelce admitting that he hoped to woo the star by putting his phone number on a friendship bracelet before the two met.
But, why do fans swap friendship bracelets at the Eras Tour?
It all started with a track on Taylor’s 2022 album “Midnights”.
In the song You’re On Your Own Kid which is a reflection on Taylor’s career and the controversies she’s faced throughout, there is a line saying: “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it”, and it’s something that Swifties have ran with ever since.
As well as the Eras tour creating a boom in UK economy, boosting spending by around £1 billion this year alone, retailer Hobbycraft told the BBC that sales of their most popular gold alphabet beads have increased by more than six times.
The friendship bracelet trend is huge even among celebrities, too, with some in the VIP tent being gifted their own bracelets as well as Travis Kelce admitting on his podcast New Heights last summer that he made one for the star.
He said: “I was disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows, because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings
“So, I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her.”
He later added that he did receive a bunch of bracelets while he was at her show but he hoped to give her one with his phone number on it.
The Eras Tour comes to London from August 15th-20th 2024.