Taylor Swift and Beyoncé’s respective concert tours and the blockbuster Barbie phenomenon have created a billion-dollar pop culture boom.
Now, a vibrant subculture has emerged on TikTok — one where DIY fans stitch bodysuits inspired by the trendy icons and launch hashtags like #loverbodysuit with more than 60 million views from Swifties across the globe. Many have turned their hobby into a lucrative business. But the popularity of their wares can lead to challenges for the creators.
“The demand is absolutely otherworldly,” Ashley Dawson, 29, tells Yahoo Entertainment of her intricate Swift-inspired rhinestone bodysuits, which range from $200 to $1,500 on her Etsy store.
Dawson launched the online store after receiving praise for her designs on social media. She says it has received more than 230,000 views since debuting in April. This summer alone, she says she shipped “hundreds” of bodysuits to customers worldwide. And the orders keep coming.
“I’m barely keeping up with my current Halloween orders as it is, and I have a 40-plus long waiting list,” Dawson explains. Still, she wouldn’t have it any other way. “It doesn’t feel like work but more like I’m pouring into a passion project.”
“This is a piece of art”
The same goes for Stormy Kelly, a 33-year-old clothing designer who sews and curates Swift-inspired outfits via TikTok. Most of her get-ups, she says, are bought by Swifties to wear during stops of her Eras Tour. Many of her customers, she notes, plan on re-wearing the outfits for Halloween.
“I’ve been making Taylor Swift outfits for a long time, since her Eras Tour started,” Kelly tells Yahoo Entertainment, saying that she has spent “hours and hours” processing orders for folks who have paid “over a thousand dollars” in some cases for a single bodysuit.
“This is a piece of art,” says Kelly. “When you get something custom-made, it’s just different. [Swift] represents something different that’s never been done before. It’s so cool that the outfits are one of the most iconic ways to express yourself, to represent yourself as a Swiftie. It’s what they do.”
Pingping, a 44-year-old former shoe and handbag designer based in Los Angeles, agrees.
In 2012, she launched an Etsy specializing in custom-made catsuits and bodysuits ranging from $90 to $900 each. Pingping says bespoke bodysuits inspired by Beyoncé and the Barbie film are among her top-sellers. That took her took her by surprise, she explains.
“Now, with so much competition, I truly have to elevate my quality, aesthetics and provide good photography with great models,” she tells Yahoo Entertainment. “I now outsource the manufacturing for the most part, but still hand-make some.”
That’s a far cry from when she first started, when bodysuits were considered “niche” and usually catered to dancers, aerialists, festival goers and costume parties,” she says.
“I didn’t have much competition back then, so anything I made would sell out quickly,” says Pingping.
“It’s amazing what can be achieved with some sequins and a hot-glue gun”
Across the pond in London, 30-year-old Bella King decided to make a “budget-friendly” costume to wear for Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour this summer. Starting with the base of a dress she had “already loved,” King recreated the singer’s “hands-on” bodysuit that was originally conceived by Spanish designer, Loewe.
“I think I spent maybe [around $40] all together,” she tells Yahoo of the look, the result of which she shared on TikTok. “I got the gloves together, I got the rhinestones and everything, and it took maybe a couple of days to put together.”
The look paid off. “It just made me feel like this confident, bold, bright person I know that I am, but sometimes doesn’t come out much,” says King. “I’m amazing. I’m stunning. I’m gorgeous!”
Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., 28-year-old Leila Ostria says she has seen Beyoncé in concert upwards of “24 times,” six of which came during the Renaissance tour this summer.
Ostria’s devotion to the artist inspired her to recreate a “hands-on” bodysuit of her own, which she later shared on TikTok. As she tells Yahoo Entertainment, expressing one’s self through fashion is par for the course for anyone in the BeyHive.
“Beyoncé has always been an artist who inspires people,” she says, noting that social media plays a “big role” in why many fans enjoy dressing up for concerts these days. “Beyoncé is also a performer. She not only sings, but she puts on a show which then influences people to dress up even more.”
Barbie fans, like 29-year-old Brittany Law, echo those sentiments.
Law designs various outfits celebrating pop culture figures, but after crafting a Barbie costume made entirely of Amazon products, later sharing the results on TikTok, she says she has received “a lot of requests from people” to buy the outfit so they can have a little “Barbie magic” in their own lives.
“I feel the confidence and positivity reflected in myself when I wear these costumes,” Law explains. “I’m hoping people dress up as Barbie for Halloween. I know people are sometimes afraid of everyone wearing the same costume, but in the case of Barbie, I’m like, let’s takeover!”
Dani Galvin, a 31-year-old Swiftie from Brisbane, Australia, says sharing her Swift-inspired “lover bodysuit” on TikTok has been an “empowering” experience for her personally.
“For me, there is an extra layer of nuisance and freedom as there aren’t a lot of people with my body type shown on the Internet, especially not in skin-tight, full-on glitter bodysuits,” she explains of the suit, which took upwards of 70 hours to complete.
“It’s amazing what can be achieved with some sequins and a hot-glue gun,” she says. “Not everybody has the time, skills, or ability to make something themselves, so getting a custom outfit created makes perfect sense.”
MJ Dillenbeck, 23, has shared numerous custom-made Swift bodysuits on TikTok before selling them for a nice profit on her Amazon store, from $100 to $350 each.
“I have been steadily creating these outfits since the start of her tour,” says Dillenbeck. “So many of us look up to Taylor, so to be able to wear something to emulate her makes us feel so enchanted and beautiful.”
For Dillenbeck, like so many others, the hours of work are a testament to their deep admiration and unwavering love for Swift.
“I simply love the craft of it,” she says. “It is also something that has just brought together so many fans.”
