Last week, Taylor Swift’s album Midnights went to No 1 in the UK. This Monday she became the first artist to claim all Top Ten spots on the Billboard 100 in the US. Then on Tuesday she caused a new wave of Swiftie mania by announcing plans for her 2023 tour.
It’s called the Eras Tour, a fitting name not just because it will be “a journey through the musical eras of [her] career”, but also because adopting new eras is all the rage at the moment.
“Are they not just historical periods?” you may ask yourself. No! They are the best way of explaining your present mood or phase of life.
“I’m going to be in my bitch era,” Emily Ratajkowski declared on TikTok last month – from now on she is “just gonna get angry” (she has even launched a company called Bitch Era Media). On Monday the rapper Drake was described as entering his “model era” after he posted a (potentially fake) image of himself on the cover of Vogue. They aren’t the only ones: TikTok users act out and explain their various eras too.
Behaving chaotically? You’re in your “Fleabag era”. Vengeful? It’s your “Reputation era” (named after Swift’s darker 2017 album). My favourite, however, is actually found on Twitter: the “slut era” trend. Usually used ironically, it has inspired gems such as: ” ‘I’m in my slut era,’ I whisper to myself as I curl up for a little nap.”