Taylor Swift’s Website Had To Post A “Care Notice” Because Of Complaints About Her Tour Merch Fading After Washing
Since many of Taylor Swift’s fans’ faces undoubtedly sported a “distressed, vintage look” after hoping to receive early access, waiting hours in a virtual queue on Ticketmaster, encountering the dreaded rainbow wheel, or getting kicked out of the queue entirely during site crashes, and then MAYBE getting to shell out several hundreds or thousands of dollars for tickets to one of her coveted 3-hour long, 44-song setlist Eras Tour shows; they were probably less than thrilled that the overpriced souvenirs they grabbed as evidence of their valiant, transcendent journey also started sporting a “distressed, vintage look” after only a single wash. Apparently, so many fans expressed disappointment with the lacking longevity of the printing on the tour apparel they purchased that Taylor’s official website issued a “care notice,” which basically said, “We meant for that to happen.”
Billboard reports that Swifties who’ve purchased Taylor’s tour merch are expressing collective disappointment at the quality of the garments. Many took time out from inappropriately timed dry-humping to share their experiences with the $75-ish merch on Reddit and TikTok.
Several Swifties have taken to social media and Reddit in particular to complain about their Eras Tour merch fading severely after being washed to the point that Taylor’s face was, in some cases, beyond recognition. “i just sent an email to taylor’s merch team about the whole thing,” one frustrated user wrote on Reddit. “i mentioned the poor quality, disappointment that all the excitement and waiting for merch is now ruined by the fading quality after one simple wash, etc.”
Here’s an example of the fading from Reddit; that third Taylor down in the left column in the “after” has seen better days for sure:
TikTokers have been complaining as well and started ironing over the printing and washing inside out on the delicate cycle in an attempt to get it to last longer:
@1989vinyl Ironing my #erastourmerch so it doesnt’t fade! #erastourtaylorswift #taylorswiftmerch #taylorswiftmerchandise
@raighsunshine this is really unfortunate, and to everyone saying I should have pressed it on with parchment paper beforehand, why should we be the ones to have to preserve a $50 shirt?? i did everything I normally do to take care of my clothes and it faded a TON, I still don’t regret buying merch I’m just very disappointed in the quality of it #swiftie #swifttok #taylorswift #taylorsversion #taylorswiftmerch #erastour #erastourtaylorswift #erastourshirts #erastourmerch #erastourmerchtruck
“Was Taylor putting out shit-quality merch that has to be washed on “DELICATE” another of her brilliant Easter eggs?!” surely at least one fervent fan exclaimed. Taylor’s merch team then felt the heat and reiterated the care directions, attributed the post-wash vintage lewk (fade) to the “ink curing process,” and offered to replace items only if the ink loss was “dramatic:”
Taylor Swift‘s website posted a statement Monday (April 3) about how fans can best take care of their Eras Tour merch after some fans complained online of the products fading after one wash.
The team then directed customers to contact the Universal Music store if they noticed “any dramatic loss of pigment or ink bleeding” on their purchases and offered replacement product if necessary, courtesy of the site’s official exchange policy.
Here’s the whole notice:
Call It What You Want, Universal Music Store, but it seems like pre-distressing the items before selling them would’ve been the safer choice. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things!
Pic: TikTok, Reddit, Taylorswift.com