Swifties Think Taylor's Birthday Dress Was A Massive TS11 Easter Egg

Taylor Swift has been deep in the process of re-recording her first seven albums for the past few years now, but that hasn’t stopped her from also putting out new music. In the fall of 2022, Swift dropped one of her moodiest records ever, the sleeplessly introspective Midnights. And now, her fans think Swift is gearing up to release her 11th studio album... which might actually have a strong connection to Midnights. Here are all the clues and Easter eggs that Swifties have noticed about TS11 so far.

Although she’s switched it up a couple times recently, Swift’s album release cycle has been incredibly consistent throughout her career. Her first five albums were all released almost exactly two years apart. Because she went dark for a bit before Reputation, that album came out a year later than the usual pattern — she also switched things up in the midst of her creative outpouring during 2020’s lockdown, releasing both folklore and evermore in the same year. But other than those outliers, Swift has stuck to her two-year album cycle, which has her fans on high alert for 2024.

And she may have already started teasing her next new album. From telling fashion choices to secret codes, here’s what Swifties are theorizing about TS11.

1. She Dropped A Hint In 1989 (TV)

Swift posted a note to fans when she released 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in October 2023, and one thing immediately stuck out. Or actually, 11 things did. Swifties pointed out how Swift capitalized 11 T’s throughout the letter, which also consisted of 11 lines leading up to the “Welcome to New York” lyric, “It’s been waiting for you.”

Given Swift’s history with dropping clues through capitalized letters in liner notes, fans took the code to be a hint that her 11th album is on the horizon.

2. Her Birthday Dress Was A Sign

Swifties did more than just celebrate on her 34th birthday; they also sleuthed. When Swift went out on the town on Dec. 13, 2023 in a black dress with a bejeweled crescent moon on it, fans immediately recognized the reference.

The starry night-sky dress seemed to be a clear bookend to the dark-blue, star-printed dress that Swift wore the night she announced Midnights at the 2022 VMAs.

Since the starry blue dress marked the start of Midnights, fans took the darker echo as a mark that the Midnights era was now ending.

3. TS11 Might Be A Midnights Sister Album

The birthday dress did more than just possibly signal the end of the Midnights era — its clear resemblance to Swift’s Midnights dress also sparked a theory the two albums will be closely connected.

A new theory quickly emerged that TS11 will be a sister album to Midnights, in a similar vein to how evermore is considered folklore’s sister album.

The two looks also added a whole new layer to an existing theory about how Swift had been dressing for the last several months of 2023. Eagle-eyed fans noticed that every time Swift stepped out, she alternated between wearing blue and black outfits. Initially, Swifties took this as a subtle wink hinting 1989 (TV) and Reputation (TV) would be released closely together, considering blue and black, respectively, are the signature colors of those albums.

But with the new sister albums theory, fans think these outfit choices had a second, deeper meaning. Midnights is coded as dark blue, which means Swift could also be hinting TS11 will be a darker, black-coded album with a strong stylistic connection.