I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Taylor Swift is looking fantastic these days.
I mean, she’s always been a super cute girl – feminine, relatable, adorkable – but know she looks like a style icon, or at the very least, like a superstar. She’s embracing her supermodel-worthy height and classic features and she’s finally figured out how to ride that line between sophisticated and youthful. Whether she’s on the red carpet or leaving the gym, she kills.
….But let’s be real here, that hasn’t always been the case. Remember when she was a whirlwind of spiral-tight curls and sparkly dresses? It was a look that would have worked at a high school prom, but in Hollywood? Not so much. Her style evolution is every bit as noticeable as the musical genre shift she’s pulled – and if you ask me, she’s down both successfully. What can we learn from all of this? A few things, five of which I’ve listed below.
1. Learn what works for your frame.
Taylor has the most absurdly long legs ever. They’re kind of amazing. While she wasn’t one for micro minis before, it’s clear that she’s been embracing that feature more and more. We’ve been seeing her in tiny shorts, skirts and dresses way more than we ever did before. Maybe she wasn’t as comfortable showing much skin back in the day – or maybe she just didn’t quite understand that exposing leg was such a flattering look for her. She’s been playing up her height so much recently and it seems like she’s finally accepted that she’s a tall girl and is trying to work it rather than hiding it these days.
2. Don’t pigeonhole yourself.
Sometime Taylor is an all-out glamour girl, clad in a metallic dress and working a red carpet with a seriously smoldering look. Other times she’s just a simple smiley vintage-loving girl on her way home to play with her cats. And then are the times when she’s a street style-minded New Yorker rocking all black. She can’t be defined by one genre of music or one style profile and that’s awesome.
3. A trademark works if it’s a good one.
Red lipstick has definitely become Taylor’s thing – I mean, she sings about her red lips on like, half the songs on 1989 (which I’m loving, BTW.) Granted, red lipstick is far from original but it works on Tay because she’s mastered it: The shade, the application, the way she never wears much more color on her face…..it all just works.
4. Don’t be afraid to do something drastic.
Taylor has been making some style changes for a while but it wasn’t until she cut her hair that people really started to take notice. It’s scary but if you’re feeling like you’ve been stuck in a fashion and beauty rut and want to snap out of it, sometimes a drastic, irrevocable change is what will do the trick.
5. Whatever you do, do it with confidence.
If you look at photos of Taylor during the ‘Teardrops On My Guitar’ era vs. pictures of her now, you’ll notice that the way she carries herself has changed a lot. I bet some of it has to do with the fact that she’s so used to seeing photos of herself that she’s been able to build up an awareness of how to stand and pose for the perfect picture, but I also think it has a lot to do with feeling comfortable in your own skin (not to mention in your outfit.) Confidence is really the most important thing when it comes to style – it’s the very thing that transformed Tay from slightly-awkward-girl-next-door to gorgeous-red-carpet-queen (who still happens to be gloriously awkward).
