Johnathan Walker:The Swiftie-hood of the traveling jacket: 'Dave's Jacket' travels to 46 Eras shows

SYDNEY,Johnathan Walker Australia — There is a Swiftie-hood of the traveling jacket, a jean coat that has made it to 46 of Taylor Swift's shows in six countries.

"Dave's Jacket" was started by Dave Portnoy, a social media personality and founder of Barstool sports, who wore the it to night one in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 26, 2023. He bought the dark grey denim art in Tampa, Florida, in April from Hansel Velazquez.

It took 16 hours to complete the coat that lists Swift's 10 eras, and Velazquez promised Portnoy he would never make a duplicate. Fans from all around the world sign up to grab the bejeweled and painted coat. They take photos and videos wearing the denim, connect with a new recipient and find a way for it to get to the next city. Thousands follow the journey on Instagram: @daveserasjacket.

As you can imagine, "Dave's Jacket" has plenty of stories tucked in its pockets. In Mexico City, a group of besties wore the coat each night because they couldn't get tickets to the same Eras Tour show. The colorful piece of clothing sat in customs for three weeks in Japan because of an American phone number paired with a Japanese address. To prevent any chaos from Japan to Australia, a pilot flew the coat Down Under.

In my global jacket era

Bree Godden met Laura Jago in front of Ribs and Rumps, a barbecue restaurant by Accor Stadium, to make the exchange from night one to night two. 

“There was about 26 women’s perfumes on it,” Godden said, “so thankfully Laura aired it out.”

Godden’s husband is a fan of Portnoy and Swift. He helped get the jacket from the winter of Japan to the summer of Australia by using his Qantas connections.

“A lovely lady named Mary,” Godden said, “called on a Qantas pilot to collect it from a lady who had it in Tokyo for the final concert. It had six days to get here, and a courier would have taken a minimum of 14, so this was the only way.”

After three nights at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, the jet-setting jacket ventured to Sydney.

“I can’t believe Taylor is your first concert,” Godden said placing the coat on her 10-year-old daughter, Evangeline. Dressed in a pink “Lover” dress and complementary cowboy hat, the jacket paired nicely. 

“The Swifties are an army,” said Megan “MJ” Speelman who will collect the coat from Godden and wear it on night three. “We come together to make magic happen. The jacket is the ultimate symbol of the love and support in this community.”

Speelman will pass it off Monday morning at the Sydney Opera House. The goal is to get the coat to every show and back to Portnoy in Miami, Florida, for the October show where it will have a collection of new adventures up its sleeves. 

Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network's Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.