Taylor Swift's style is a good reflection of her music. That is to say, they both call to mind adjectives like "approachable," "inoffensive," "widely palatable." No hate! Just that part of Swift's wide appeal is that everything she does, makes, and wears is incredibly digestible, which ain't always an easy trick to manage.
It's thus very appropriate that Swift would co-sign the world's most ordinary New Balance sneakers — you even could say they deserve each other.
On September 24, Swift laced up red and white New Balance 550 shoes a as part of a Kansas City Chiefs-themed outfit she wore to support reported new beau Travis Kelce, so the general release sneakers weren't necessarily fashion for fashion's sake.
On the other hand, Swift could've just worn some regular white shoes if all she needed was plain kicks, so her normie New Balances were very much a choice, and a pretty specific one at that.
New Balance 550 are fine sneaker, mind you. they're just played-out to the point of extreme blandness.
Within only a few short years, New Balance's hit low-top sneaker has evolved from a cult smash to an omnipresent, ultra-normal staple worn by everyone and their TikTok-obsessed kid sibling.
The New Balance 550 was once impossible to keep in stock; now, it's widely available at every chain sneaker retailer in every conceivable colorway.
With its retro chunk and neutral colorways, the 550 is one of the most normal sneakers currently on the market, the very epitome of an typical shoe. In fact, if Taylor Swift was a sneaker, she'd probably be this one.
It's crazy how big the story around Taylor Swift's New Balances has become. NBC carried coverage of Swift's shoes on Hallie Jackson, the New York Times weighed in, and sites of all stripes clamored for clicks by pointing readers to places to buy Swift's safe sneakers.
This phenomenon speaks to the what's really the most extraordinary aspect of Taylor Swift: her immense cultural reach.
Shop New Balance 550 here
To the surprise of no one, Swift's obsessive fanbase immediately sold out the identical 550s currently available on New Balance's website. Worked for her $673 butterfly jeans, why wouldn't the Swifties snap up extremely normal $110 sneakers?
But fear not, New Balance restocked the red and white 550 shoes on September 26 and gave them place of presence online, though that didn't stop enterprising resellers from trying to turn a buck by flipping spare pairs.
Perhaps New Balance just saw the writing on the wall and had reserve pairs ready to go.
Swift's style is so conventional that it's headline-worthy whenever she steps out in something genuinely interesting — the 550s were practically inevitable. Next up, Swiftified adidas Sambas!
