Carolina by Taylor Swift: The Songful Style Challenge

It’s time for Songful Style again! And this month I got to choose the song, which meant I could finally pick one I’ve been completely obsessed with lately: Carolina by Taylor Swift.

If you haven’t come across Songful Style before, it’s a monthly challenge that I do with my lovely blogging friends Marsha and Shelbee, where one of us chooses a song and we each put together an outfit inspired by it. I love seeing how differently we all interpret the same piece of music because, of course, we all hear something different in a song. Last month, we styled Mondnacht by Robert Schumann, which was Shelbee’s choice. I had so much fun with that one, so if you missed it, you can have a peek at how I styled Mondnacht here. This month, though, we’re going somewhere much more haunting…

I chose Carolina because of its connection to one of my favourite films I’ve watched recently: Where the Crawdads Sing. I watched it for the first time a couple of months ago and was honestly blown away. I loved everything about it — the story, the acting, the incredible scenery and that slightly eerie, mysterious feeling running through the whole thing. It was just beautiful. And then there’s the song.

Taylor Swift wrote Carolina specifically for the film after reading the novel by Delia Owens, and I think it’s one of those rare occasions where a song and a film fit together perfectly. It’s haunting and delicate and feels almost as though it’s drifting out of the marshes.

The lyrics are written around Kya, the main character, and her connection to Carolina and the natural world around her. Even the opening image of the “Carolina creeks” running through her veins gives you that feeling that this place isn’t just where she lives — it’s part of who she is.

And I absolutely adore the video too. It’s very simple and atmospheric, with those muted, misty colours and beautiful shots of nature. There’s something about the whole thing that makes me want to disappear into the woods and live in a little cabin somewhere.

So… what to wear?

This is where I got my inspiration. There’s a scene in Where the Crawdads Sing where Kya is waiting on the beach for the man she loves to arrive. She’s wearing a pretty, simple dress and standing there barefoot, surrounded by this huge expanse of beach and sea. I immediately thought, that’s it!

And then I remembered a dress I’d bought on Vinted last year that I’d STILL never worn. It’s a really simple grey dress, almost like a T-shirt material, with spaghetti straps and a plain bodice. It has an elasticated waist and then a layer of soft tulle over the skirt, which gives it a slightly floaty, almost prom-dress feel.

It’s not exactly the same as Kya’s dress, but it has that same simple, feminine quality. And the fact that it’s grey was perfect because it reminded me of the colours in the Carolina video too. Everything is so muted and dreamy — nothing too bright or fussy.

So I kept the rest of the outfit really, really simple. I’m barefoot. That’s it. I wanted it to look as though I’d simply walked down onto the beach and was waiting there for someone. No shoes, no complicated accessories, no loads of jewellery. Just the dress. Also, Kya is barefoot a lot, in the movie too.

I did want to wear a shell necklace because shells are such an important part of Kya’s story, but sadly I don’t actually own one! So instead I wore my current favourite crystal pendant. And actually, I think it works rather well because it adds a tiny bit of my own magical touch to the outfit.

The beach… wasn’t happening!

Now, obviously, I really wanted to photograph this on the beach. I mean, come on. Bare feet + floaty grey dress + beach = perfect! But then I remembered that it’s August. And Portuguese beaches in August are basically half of Europe on holiday. There was absolutely no way I was going to get the dreamy, deserted beach photos I had in my head without about 300 random people wandering through the background.

So I photographed everything at home instead and then had a little play around with Photoshop/AI to put one or two of the images onto the beach. Cheating? Maybe. Creative licence? Absolutely. And you know what? They’re fun!

I think the simplicity is what I love most

What I love about Carolina is its simplicity. The quietness of it. The feeling of nature and loneliness and mystery. There’s nothing flashy about the song or the film, and I wanted my outfit to reflect that. Just a simple grey dress, bare feet and my favourite crystal pendant. Sometimes less really is more.

And that’s one of the reasons I love Songful Style so much. It’s not about dressing up as the song or copying a particular outfit. It’s about taking something you hear and turning it into something you can wear.

And sometimes, like this month, it can be as simple as finding a dress that’s been sitting unworn in your wardrobe for a year and finally realising, “Ohhh… you’re the Carolina dress!”

Now I’m off to see what Marsha and Shelbee have done with it! You can see their interpretations over on Marsha in the Middle and Shelbee on the Edge.

Join the link-up below, and please come and join us on the last Monday of the month. Next time we’ll be styling Marsha’s song choice of, well, any song from Phantom of the Opera which should be fun!