I went to the Taylor Swift exhibition at the V&A museum in London

It’s Taylor Swift’s European summer, and we’re all lucky to be living it. As the superstar continues her Eras Tour across the UK and the rest of Europe, cities are going all out to celebrate her arrival, from TTPD-from Edinburgh-branded trams to Liverpool’s ‘Taylor Town’ art installations.

In London, the Victoria & Albert Museum is paying tribute to Swift with a new exhibition called Taylor Swift “Songbook Trail,” opening Saturday, July 27 (just in time for the Eras Tour’s second London leg in August).

It’s perfectly designed for Swifties who love to sleuth Easter eggs.

The V&A, which opened in 1852, is one of London’s largest and most famous art museums, housing more than two million objects spanning 5,000 years of history. This exhibition brings together 13 other exhibitions curated to celebrate Swift and her creative process, including iconic outfits she has worn in music videos and on red carpets throughout her career.

It’s free to visitors (entry to the museum is also free, by the way) and rather than being located in a dedicated area, it takes you on a guided tour through the galleries to find where the objects are. (In other words, it’s perfectly designed for Swifties who love to sleuth around looking for Easter eggs.)

I was lucky enough to check out the exhibit before it opened to the public and can confirm that it’s a must-see for any longtime fans. Here’s what to expect if you stop by:

Chapter 1: Lover

The first display case you will be directed to on the trail map (which the museum provides to visitors at the entrance) represents Lover — and more specifically the music video for “The Man.” Kate Bailey, the V&A’s senior curator, explained at the press preview that each object on this tour is intentionally placed in the museum to engage with the permanent pieces around it.

In this case, Swift’s outfit in the music video is flanked by statues of Venus and Diana, and she stands in front of a wall of portraits of historical white artists, proving that Swift is truly “the man” of the modern era.

Chapter 2: Reputation

The next step is the Reputation display case containing an outfit Swift wore during the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. It also includes the snake-print boots she wore for the Reputation secret session in London.

It is placed in the room that usually houses the Three Graces – a trio of muse goddesses from Greek mythology, meant to remind the viewer of Swift’s era of transformation and rebirth.

PS Notice the “invisible” lights woven into each of these exhibits.

Chapter 3: Speak Now

Swift’s 2010 album Speak Now It was her first musical project written entirely by herself, and it is honored in the museum’s Norfolk Music Room.

The intricately decorated space includes visual nods to literature, music, and magic (songs from the album play in this room), and the display case includes the dress Swift wore on the back cover of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and a ukulele she used on the Speak Now World Tour in 2011.

Chapter 4: Red

Super luxury Red The exhibition includes the dress Swift wore in the “I Bet You Think About Me” music video, opposite the newsboy cap she wore in the Red (Taylor’s version) front cover.

They are placed in front of the Melville House state bed, a romantic and sumptuous piece of luxury furniture from the 1700s – whose museum display case, incidentally, has never been opened until now.

Chapter 5: Intrepid

Swift’s elaborate “Love Story” dress from the Fearless Tour is perfectly perched on a balcony at the Raphael Gallery, along with a copy of Shakespeare’s play. Romeo and Juliet opened in front of him.

This space is considered the most prestigious in the museum, housing floor-to-ceiling Renaissance paintings by legendary artists such as Raphael.

Chapter 6: 1989

In the Raphael Gallery there is also the 1989 exhibition, consisting of two of Swift’s outfits from her 1989 world tour. The 2015 album marked the superstar’s official move to pop music and her second AOTY Grammy win.

This consolidated her as a true Renaissance artist capable of crossing genres, which is why the museum chose to pay tribute to her in the room with the works of Raphael (he himself is considered a Renaissance master).

Chapter 7: Taylor Swift Beginning

Swift’s debut album display sits in the fashion gallery, in front of a large outdoor painting that evokes Swift’s country roots. It includes a blue dress and cowboy boots she wore to a concert in 2007, as well as her guitar from that era.

Chapter 8: Always

In truth Always Fashion, the mood of this stop evokes fantasy and imagination. It features the dress Swift wore in the “Willow” music video, as well as images from the storyboard her team used to plan the video shoot.

The display case is in the Victorian Picture Gallery, a room filled with elaborate fictional stories, similar to those Swift uses in her ninth album.

Chapter 9: Folklore

Folklore is housed in another room filled with paintings, this time landscapes that evoke the atmosphere of the Irish countryside from Swift’s 2020 album.

Her cardigan — yes, *the* iconic cardigan — sits in a case in front of a replica of the piano from her “Cardigan” music video, as birdsong accompanies the album’s songs.

Chapter 10: Re-recording Taylor’s Version

The next stop on the tour takes visitors to a room that is not usually open to the public. The Prince Consort Gallery is a textile vault, a perfect metaphor for the “vault” where Swift kept the songs that didn’t make it onto her albums but were eventually released with her re-recordings.

This piece (my favorite) features a treasure trove of Swift’s famous outfits, including her 2022 VMAs minidress and the blue Oscar de la Renta gown she wore to the Los Angeles premiere of her concert film Eras Tour in 2023.

Chapter 11: Midnight

In the textile room there is also the display case celebrating Midnightwith the yellow dress Swift wore in the “Bejeweled” music video.

The singer’s tenth studio album contained “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout her life,” which is why the museum included it in the same room as her re-recordings to represent old stories brought back to light.

Chapter 12: The Department of Tortured Poets

Fans of Swift’s current era of “female anger” will love seeing her dress from the “Fortnight” music video placed near the museum’s National Art Library, filled with works by other tortured poets throughout history.

The dress is stacked on top of books of poetry, with manuscript pages “flying” in the air around the display case.

Chapter 13: Childhood

The tour ends with a gentle nod to Swift’s childhood, where she honed the creativity that would eventually make her a global superstar. Old family videos and performance clips play on loop in the medieval and renaissance galleries, showing how history can lead us to the present. It’s a gentle, coded nod to “You’re On Your Own, Kid” on her debut.

Taylor Swift’s ‘Songbook Trail’ is open at the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington until September 8.