Alan Cumming Says Taylor Swift’s 2024 VMAs Plaid Outfit Has a ‘Hilarious’ Connection to ‘The Traitors’ Season 3
Something of a Taylor Swift–The Traitors crossover is on the way. No, the Grammy winner isn’t set to appear on the popular reality series. (Sorry, Swifties!) However, fans might get déjà vu when new episodes return. According to actor Alan Cumming, the show’s host, one of his upcoming looks on The Traitors Season 3 resembles Swift’s at the 2024 VMAs.
‘The Traitors’ host wears a similar outfit to Swift’s VMAs look next season
At the 2024 Emmy Awards on Sept. 15, 2024, Cumming revealed Swift’s choice of attire for the VMAs, which took place on Sept. 11, 2024, provided something of a sneak peek at what’s to come for his wardrobe on The Traitors.
“In the next season [of The Traitors] there’s a look I have that’s obviously very similar,” he told People. “But I think it’s hilarious that so many people sort of said Taylor Swift looks like Alan Cumming, which is a sentence I never thought I would hear.”
Swift wore a yellow and black plaid outfit from Dior’s 2025 resort collection for the VMAs. She completed the look with a plaid train, shorts, and lace-up leather gloves. Inside, she did an outfit change, wearing a “Down Bad”-coded Monse mini dress.
Cumming joked Swift ‘stole’ his 2024 Emmys ‘look’
He also addressed Swift seemingly copying his plaid Emmys outfit just nights earlier at the VMAs. For the occasion, Cumming wore a Teddy Vonranson white suit jacket, a matching plaid shirt and shawl, and a black kilt. He completed his Emmys outfit with a tartan tie.
The Good Wife alum took the similarities between what he and Swift wore to the September 2024 awards shows in stride. “The b***h stole my look,” Cumming joked.
Both also went home winners. The Traitors won an Emmy in the Outstanding Reality Competition Program category. It came after Cumming won for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program, at the 2024 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
For her part, Swift walked away with seven moon men statues at the 2024 VMAs, including one for the night’s biggest prize—video of the year. She also thanked her “boyfriend, Travis” Kelce, in her acceptance speech. “Everything this man touches turns to happiness and fun and magic,” she said.
His ‘Traitors’ outfits will continue to be ‘dandy James Bond villain’ in season 3
Cumming’s many bold looks on The Traitors, according to GQ, came after much discussion with stylist Sam Spector as well as the production team. Using Cumming’s own “amazing archive” of clothing, he and Spector got to work on bringing a “dandy James Bond villain” esthetic to his outfits in season 1 outfits. Then, in season 2, they expanded on it to include each episode’s theme as inspiration.
The word, “dandy,” which Spector recalled Cumming using on a phone call ahead of season 1, became the “perfect inspiration.” He created mood boards featuring “Scottish dandy laird and traditional Scotting menswear. ” Cumming’s own “punk downtown New York vibe” also played a role.
“We had a Bond villain in our heads during season one. But it’s ever-evolving in season two,” he said, noting they referenced British royal funerals and Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex and the City wedding cape as inspiration.
As for what’s ahead for Cumming’s fashion, Spector said: “In season three, I’m going to do the same, but it’ll be as whimsical and wacky as possible.” The Traitors Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Peacock. Season 3’s premiere date has, at the time of writing, yet to be revealed.
