Travis Kelce’s on bye week (which is less “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” than it sounds), and he, Taylor Swift, and every paparazzo worth his DSLR made the most of the NFL star’s hiatus by heading to The Corner Store in Manhattan’s Soho on Friday night. Located on the corner of Houston and Really, Really, Ridiculously Online, the TikToker-baiting restaurant has twice got the seal of approval from Swift since it opened in September, claiming to be “an upscale take on a classic American joint”—the culinary equivalent of Kelce, in other words. There’s spinach-artichoke dip, there’s $12 fries, and there’s a sour-cream-and-onion martini—none of which you will realistically be able to try, as getting a reservation has been impossible since Taylor took Gigi for dinner there in matchy-matchy BFF trenches three weeks ago.
I’ll forgive Swift for standing between me and a Caesar salad with everything-bagel croutons, however, because her outfit on Friday a) proved my thesis about her relationship with Louis Vuitton, and b) included a Dior Saddle bag. If the rest of her look was quintessentially Swiftian (red lip, camel Ralph Lauren coat, a corset in the form of Gucci’s GG Net Top), her choice of handbag was intriguing, because Dior isn’t, in general, a maison Swift champions—with the notable exception of the tartan Resort 2025 look she plucked from Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Drummond Castle runway for the 2024 VMAs. I’ll leave it to X to declare that her Saddle bag’s shade means the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) is clearly imminent; my theory is that Taylor’s been rewatching season three of Sex and the City, where Carrie cheats not just on Aidan but also her Fendi Baguette, carrying John Galliano’s most enduring accessory for Dior at pivotal moments in the series. (Swift, I’d argue, is a Carrie sun, Miranda rising, Charlotte moon – but please do DM me to discuss.)
Joining Swift, Kelce, and Kelce’s still-present mustache at The Corner Shop? Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool actor, and Blake Lively, floral evangelist. Blake traded her PSL-inflected look from earlier in the day for a mesh burgundy dress and matching Valentino booties that I’m fairly certain Taylor mentioned in her 2014 Tumblr post about the seasonal supremacy of fall. Lively, like Swift, famously styles herself, but she’s actually right on trend with her choice of colorway. Deeper reds in the vein of Sabato De Sarno’s Gucci Rosso have become the preferred alternative to neutrals this autumn, with Google searches for maroon at a five-year high, and Pantone declaring “Windsor Wine” a standout color of the SS25 collections, too.
