One of the major things to have come out of Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour is the tradition of friendship bracelet trading. However, some ~unique~ pieces have caused some confusion amongst one of the biggest fanbases in the world.
As someone who isn’t a hardcore Swiftie, the idea of unity intertwined with friendship bracelet trading sounds so fucking sweet. Late last year, there was some discourse on TikTok about the origins of these colourful, one-of-a-kind bracelets, with some folks from the raving community accusing Swifties of taking over their culture (LOL).
The whole thing was quite funny, but generally, ravers AND Swifties would bring ‘yuge amounts of these homemade pieces — sometimes called Kandi, and sometimes called friendship bracelets — and trade them or hand them out during the event. It kinda symbolises a sense of community and safe space, and just cultivates a sweet, sweet sense of unity amongst concertgoers.
Of course, when Swift came, heaps of fans took hours to create kandi to share with their fellow Swiftie peers.
Usually, the designs are decked out with references to the singer, consisting of phrases from songs and albums. However, some people got super ambitious about what they wanted to represent on their wrists.
Following the Eras Tour in Australia, Swifties took to fan pages in hopes of deciphering their mysterious friendship bracelets. Browsing amongst the pages, I must say, some of these are quite cursed but clever!
It almost became a game of brain training for me, which was quite difficult as a social Swiftie — AKA only listening and indulging in the Red singer’s tracks when it’s on at a party.
One of the easiest ones I’ve seen was this adorable piece from Teegan Marie, who shared a photo of a bracelet to the Facebook Group “AUSSIE / NZ SWIFITES” in hopes of decoding its meaning.
In the pic, the bracelet reads “YFHAW”, which immediately clicked in my head as “yee-fucking-haw”!
Another ~unique~ accessory was from Larissa Hawker who received a bracelet that simply read “For The Television”.
Surprisingly, the Aussie and NZ Swifties banded together and deciphered the quote, identifying at as a reference to a Jimmy Fallon interview Swift had in 2021. During the interview, Fallon shared some footage of Swift that was taken post-Lasik surgery, and let’s just say it was quite hilarious.
Sweet side note: Larissa shared with PEDESTRIAN.TV that she gave the bracelet to a fellow Swiftie who commented on the post, saying the video helped her get through her personal Lasik journey.
How bloody sweet!
Although a bunch of the bracelets and their meanings were quite funny, a majority of these pieces featured a bit of a word mash.
Letters were jumbled. Alphabet? Gone. As Cady Heron said in Mean Girls: “the limit does not exist” when it came to all these wild codes, lingo and all that Swiftie jazz on these friendship bracelets.
One of the Swift Kandi’s that had me stumped was posted by Rebecca Ciappara.
Just have a peep and see if you can figure it out!
Had a guess?
Well, unlike the other two which were easier to decipher, this one took a lot of brain cells that are solely dedicated to consuming Swift content.
“The bracelet you make when you have no letter Es left,” one swiftie commented.
“Plot Twist – it’s just leftover letters that someone threw on string PURELY to stump everyone,” another joked.
“Following because this has stumped me haha,” wrote a third.
Well, thanks to two clever Swifties, the bracelet’s mix of words was revealed to be the bridge of Swift’s iconic song “Is It Over Now?” Taylor’s Version, of course.
For folks who have no clue what the bridge is, the lyrics read: “And do you think I didn’t see you? There were flashing lights at least I had half the decency to keep my nights out of sight only rumours ‘bout my hips and thighs.”
Say what you want about Swifties, but you cannot deny their brain power. Like, A) How do you figure that out? and B) How do you fit that all in one bracelet?
As much as I loved the thrill of decoding these Easter eggs, there was one TikTok video that featured THE BEST friendship bracelets out of the whole Eras Tour.
If anyone wants to send me a T-Swift bracelet that says “GACKED”, DM me or meet me at the main stage left at Midnight Mafia.
