Style Analysis: Taylor’s Shift From Normal Girl to It Girl
My 21st birthday is right around the corner and I just recently chopped my hair, got bangs, and deleted all my dating apps. I would like to say I'm entering my 1989 era – especially with the release of the re-recording. All I can think about is 1989 – particularly the fashion and how vastly different it is from her previous four eras.
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Thinking strictly about Taylor's stage outfits – when Taylor debuted out into the world, she had to seem relatable. No one was going to care about a brand-new rising star if they couldn’t relate to them a little. Overdressing her in bright and flashy outfits would make her lose her appeal.
I would describe the style of her early days as Country Bohemian. A head full of curls, cowboy boots, and flowy knee-length dresses. Overall, she was dressed in clothing that was seen as affordable and attainable. A normal girl wearing clothes you could buy at your local mall.
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The Fearless era was a massive success, and it put Taylor in the limelight. She was no longer a normal country girl, she was playing arenas and even some stadiums now, and her clothing resembled that. She began to wear tighter and shiner outfits. When I think of Fearless, I think of the 1920s – lots of fringe and lots of sparkle. This was her roaring twenties, plummeting head first into stardom.
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The fashion of Speak Now and Fearless are very similar. With Taylor being 20 at the time, the album resonates heavily with girlhood and taking your first steps into womanhood. The staple of the era was the purple “Dear John” dress. The sweetheart neckline and mid-length hem emphasize Taylor’s youthfulness whilst singing about an older man who hurt her. A subtle nod to their inappropriate age gap of 12 years, Taylor was only 19 and John was 32.
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The Red Era was the first major shift in aesthetics for Taylor’s career. Out with the fringe and longer hems and in with the shorts and fedoras. It’s 2014 and Taylor Swift is the Tumblr It Girl. When Red came out, the Tumblr hipster aesthetic was the norm. Taylor wore lots of flats, collared shirts, and high-waisted bottoms. This era’s tour started to play around heavily with costuming – like Taylor’s iconic ringleader outfit, one of my personal favorite Taylor looks.
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Entering 1989: Taylor's self-proclaimed renovation era. She lives in New York, she focused on her friendships, swore off dating, and dived head first into a more chic city look. This is the era where we really started to see her style mature. The looks were fun, bright, and full of sparkles, and even sometimes covered in LED lights. Taylor was no longer your normal girl wearing Country Bohemian, but a pop star playing to 76,000 people in a stadium. She was the It Girl and it showed. This is one of the first eras where it feels like she is wearing the clothes and the clothes aren’t wearing her.
So many female musicians will run themselves dry whilst they’re young before they are replaced with the next big thing. Yet, Taylor has been able to avoid this cycle by constantly re-inventing her style. 1989’s initial launch was a massive career change for her, even larger than Fearless. This was the pop album, the era in which Taylor dropped her “just like you” persona and really started to shine for the artist she is. In a world where women have to always be one step ahead, Taylor is five more.
Strike Out,
Jessica Giraldo
Saint Augustine
