Is Taylor Swift Actually Unfashionable Or Do We Just Hate Her?
Lyrical genius? Perhaps. Fashion icon? I fear not.
Let me begin by stating that I am not a Swiftie. What I am is deeply fascinated by the dichotomy that internet culture has created around her. No modern celebrity is as polarizing as Taylor Swift as everyone seems to want to throw in their opinion of you based on the level of fandom you subscribe to. If you love her, you’re immature, cringe and want the environment to burn. If you don’t, well, you just hate women.
I’m certainly not qualified to talk about her musical contributions as I have never listened to a Taylor Swift album in its entirety. Not for lack of trying. I will attest that Carolina from Where The Crawdads Sing is one of my most-played songs. It’s fucking excellent and I am not ashamed to admit it. Though I attempted to get through the first song on TTPD before it was a hard yeah, nah.
However, I am qualified (credentials: 15+ years in the industry, a fashion degree and two eyes) to talk about her sartorial presence or lack thereof and as she continues to dominate my feed, I’m constantly wondering why she dresses so badly. Oh yeah, I feel I should state that this is not an anti-Taylor Swift piece. Fashion is subjective and I don’t believe that ripping on how a celebrity dresses determines your stance on feminism unless your critiques are rooted in racism or fatphobia.
Plug - For more ripping on how celebrities dress, see Met Gala articles 1 and 2.
Is it a matter of her taste level, or is it my own unconscious bias as someone who has never embraced Swiftmania? She certainly possesses all the qualifications needed to be a fashion icon by today's exclusive and outdated standards: blonde, beautiful, rich, skinny, white etc. Moreover, she has had about a million different aesthetics, so it’s not like there’s a shortage of experimentation, which is certainly why I have dressed like shit in the past. Maybe she’s still finding her way and TS39 will be her Fashun Era?
‘Nother plug - for how I dress now, see Silly Little Outfits and feel free to tell me if you think I dress like shit, it’s fine!
While I stressed earlier that fashion is subjective, I can still appreciate people who have totally different aesthetics from me and recognize that they are fashionable. I’d probably never wear anything seen on Billie Eilish, Zigs Mom, or Lara Adkins, but I would say they are still very stylish people.
Now, I’m not saying Tay can’t turn a look; it’s just that they’re few and far between and most of them are for Vogue shoots. Her tourdrobe is highly curated by a stylist (fire him imo), but even when she’s off-duty, there is very little to aspire to and it's those moments, whether staged or not, that account for a lot of celebrity fashion cred.
Everyone cares about money. If they say they don’t, they’re either lying, billionaires or lying billionaires, but in the eyes of the media, Taylor Swift is THE all-consuming, power-hungry capitalist monster. Yet apart from frequent Stella McCartney collabs, she hasn’t done much to try and win over the high-fashion crowd, which could add another pile to her billions. I guess she doesn't even need to as even the basic shit she wears manages to sell out. Case in point: that horrid crochet dress, the pickleball skirt and the Anine Bing sweatshirt (you know her audience isn’t fashion folk when they’re shocked that hoodies can be expensive).
Could we chalk up her constant fashion missteps to the fact that she doesn’t actually care how she dresses? Something that has come up in conversations with people who are into Taylor Swift is that she knows she’s uncool and plays into it. That’s the brand. Swifties know she’s cringe and they know they’re cringe. And it doesn’t matter because they’re all having fun and the cringe economy is lucrative.
I thought I’d break down some key elements of the Taylor Swift wardrobe and try to imagine how I personally feel about them if they were not so heavily ingrained within unnerving Swiftie culture.
Friendship bracelets: I don’t really do much social media these days but I have enjoyed seeing the Stories of people who slut shamed me in high school proudly showing off friendship bracelets reading SLUT at the Eras tours. Well done, so edgy! But, yeah I love friendship bracelets, I love friends, I even have a few. My favorite friendship bracelet of all time remains the “Epstein didn't kill himself” one. These are iconic accessories, I’m here for them, always.
Western: I own cowboy boots, the end. The overall aesthetic is always a pass for me (sorry, Bey!). Same goes for boho which has several overlapping elements, so I guess that cancels out anything from Tay Tay’s country and (checks notes) Folklore eras.
Pleated Skirts: Yes, I’m a fan. Unless they’re stark white. Then it feels too Tenniscore and the only things I serve are looks (I hate myself).
Your Boyfriend’s Football Jersey: I’m not a sports fan, so you won’t catch me doing Blokecore or Blokette, but if my boyfriend were a professional footballer, I’d wear his shit, sure.
Sequins & sparkles: It’s not a Taylor Swift thing, I struggle to get behind anything sparkly and I despise whatever is being sold around Christmastime. I will say that The Attico does some great shiny stuff, but it’s just so impractical.
Snake Motifs: I can honestly say I don’t own anything with snakes - I missed the window in 2016 when Alessandro Michele went all in on snakes at Gucci. However, I do love snakeskin accessories, does that count?
Victorian Blouses: I enjoy on other people, not for me though.
Cardigans: These are great in theory. I don’t know whether it’s because they remind me too much of the Twee era (which I didn’t get into at the time) and are too cutesy for my current personal taste, or I just haven’t found a good one.
Slogan tees: An all-time favorite fashion moment of mine is Rihanna in 2017 wearing a big pink puffer coat and the VETEMENTS T-shirt that says “You Fuck’n Asshole.” I know they’re having a moment right now but you won’t find any in my wardrobe. This could be due to my general disdain for quotes and people who live their lives by them. No one has ever said or written anything so poignant that I want to wear it on my chest, but “You Fuck’n Asshole” sure comes close.
Please appreciate that it was very hard for me to pour through images of Taylor Swift’s outfits because when you look at everything combined, it’s just all so scattered and garish. Plus, now my algorithm is ruined.
I’ve excluded colors from this as while I know there are different ones for each album, and they all have meaning, Taylor doesn’t have a monopoly on colors. I’m not about to be, “Oh, I wear black, so that must mean I could be a secret Reputation girlie.” Why do I know that? I hate that I know that, surely something important has been pushed out of my mind to house that information.
That’s just the thing about Swiftlore. Even if you don’t want to get involved, there is no escaping it. There is no subtlety in her symbolism. Even though separately some of these elements appeal to me, the overall aesthetic and branding of Taylor Swift just feels boring and basic. Especially when we’ve currently got Troye Sivan, Charli xcx, Dua Lipa and Chappell Roan making pop high fashion.