Taylor Swift performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Veltins Arena on July 17, 2024 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Photo: Andreas Rentz/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management; Inset: Aline Sandlers, 77 – Canada’s oldest Swiftie. Photo: Courtesy of Tom Sandler
Older, wiser, and just as inclined to shake it off. That is where Aline Sandler stands on the topic of Taylor Swift.
A card-carrying member of a tribe making up more mature fans of the power pop star, the 77-year-old – a veteran society photographer in Toronto – describes herself as the “Oldest Swiftie.” And she is all set, naturally, for Swift’s super-sized six-night take-over in the city, which begins November 14 – a stop that acts as the Canadian kickoff to her monster Eras Tour, which wraps in Vancouver on Dec. 8.
“I became a Swiftie after hearing some of her music and seeing her style,” Sandler, herself known in social circles for her Cruella de Vil nails, long blonde fringe, glitter-Barbie get-ups, and A-OK vibes, says.
Like many Boomers, she was first struck by Swift’s song-writing – something that clearly stirs something in both the young and the young at heart. The way the singer writes about her hopes, her loves and her insecurities is, after all, part of a song-writing tradition that her generation recognizes from the intensely personal yearnings of icons such as Joni Mitchell. Moreover, Sandler has found herself becoming overly invested in the romantic zigs and zags of Swift’s personal life.
“I’m also a huge Kansas City Chiefs fan, especially Travis Kelce, and watch their games every Sunday. I loved seeing her attend the games,” she says. “So my interest in all things Taylor has evolved.”
For the record: she is a true believer, indeed, when it comes to the couple. “Travis and Taylor are end-game for sure.”
Something about Taylor just brings out the angsty youngster that still resides inside Sandler, her husband and partner in photography, Tom Sandler, suggests. “I think, at 77, some are called the not-so-Swifties,” he jokes.
Interestingly enough, through her husband Tom, Sandler has a connection to another pioneering woman in music. Tom’s mother, Ruth Lowe, was a musician and songwriter who performed with the all-female band The Melodears in the 1930s before going on to pen Frank Sinatra’s first chart-topping hit, I’ll Never Smile Again, and then another of his signature tunes, Put Your Dreams Away (For Another Day).
As someone who leans towards dressing like a human doll – and yet, has had a front-row seat to the swerves of feminism, over many decades – Sandler is also perhaps attracted to a pop star who is both a model of female empowerment and happily reveling in her femininity. One who is defined by her iconic red-lip, is all fringe and sparkle, and whose brand of girlishness has resulted in the ultimate Swift signifier: the friendship bracelet.
While not a senior fan, thirtysomething Vancouver author Sarah Chapelle recently published Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras, a deep dive into the way the world’s biggest pop star uses clothes, makeup and accessories to shape an ever-evolving decades-long personal narrative, inspiring women of all ages. “I could neatly trace the timeline from country music teen ingénue to powerful, self-made woman through the transformation of her clothes,” writes Chapelle. Like 21st century womanhood itself, Taylor is not one thing – either in genre of music, or in style.
Meanwhile, most older fans of the musician aren’t there for fashion inspiration. Seventy-one-year-old U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland has been known to drop TaySwift lyrics into conversations and even wove them into legal arguments involving anti-trust litigation. And this past summer, Swift fostered a community when eight ladies living in the same retirement village in Florida jetted all the way to Warsaw, Poland, to catch The Eras Tour. Girl trip!
Sandler herself had not secured tickets for the Swift swing through Toronto as of this writing, but did reveal that she has entered a “competition for seniors” clamouring to attend. “I am waiting,” she says.
Oh, and get this: while many elder fans first got introduced to – and became smitten with – Swift’s music via their children, and/or grandchildren, in Sandler’s case, this wasn’t really the case.
“My kids have different tastes in music so I don’t really connect with them with Taylor’s tunes,” she clarifies. However, when she shoots events, like weddings, and they end up playing her music, “I’m up on the dance floor with all the young girls, dancing, smiling, celebrating life … and talking Taylor!”
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