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Taylor Swift Style Turns Ten 10×10: Photoshoots

In order to get to the Top 10, I tried to look at photoshoots as a whole and not just individual shots.

Organized in chronological order.

2010 Elle: Chloé Spring 2010 / Full spread here. One of the earliest instances of Taylor indicating that a full fringe was always in her future haha. Prior to actually getting her, now, signature bangs (Spoiler: For another photoshoot that’s also on this list), Taylor wore clip-ins for this shoot with Elle featuring some really dreamy looks like the pictured Chloé, an Oscar de la Renta two-piece set, and a cute Valentino mini.

2012 Harper’s Bazaar: Prada Resort 2013 / Full spread here. This was a rare instance where it felt like a magazine photoshoot was actually coordinating neatly with the era aesthetic of the time. Typically, Taylor’s personal styling and styling for a magazine are conducted independently and photoshoots are primarily used as a vehicle to put the latest runway’s designer wares on a famous celebrity model and secondly to really play with fashun and try on different lewks than expected. In this case, the shoot really did feel delightfully retro and a mirror to the RED aesthetic she was rocking.

2012 Marie Claire U.K.: Gucci Resort 2013 / Full spread here. The bohemian Brigitte Bardot vibes served here is truthfully how I feel Taylor should look all the time. That teased volume around the crown of her head and the smoky, slightly messy, eye makeup works so well for her. As do the rich layers and textures in fabric seen throughout this spread.

2012 RED: Full spread here. Stuffed with vintage whimsy, dots, and artfully framed photos. The RED photoshoot lives on as one of my favourite photoshoots and obviously one of my favourite album photoshoots for Taylor. It was such a beautiful way to capture the vintage-tinged essence of that time period and suited Taylor so well.

2012 Vogue: Rodarte Spring 2012 / Full spread here. To think that Anna Wintour and team have been the orchestrators behind two of Taylor’s most significant hairstyle changes is a really funny thing to think about. But it’s true that Taylor specifically took the plunge and officially had her hair trimmed into the RED era’s signature full fringe of bangs for this photoshoot. She loved it so much she’s returned to this style multiple times ever since. It isn’t the norm but most of the pulls for this shoot came from the American designer Rodarte and their SS2012 runway.

2013 Instyle U.K.: Marchesa Spring 2013 / Full spread here. In documenting this list, I feel like I’m oscillating between two different modes here: Dreamy white high fashion shots and rich, vintage patterns and textiles. This particular spread being of the former variety. As promised in the full spread you’ll see more FASHUN moments like a dramatique pair of flare pants and a frothy gown that’s reminiscent of crashing waves on rocks.

2014 Glamour: Chloé Spring 2014 / Full spread here. Honestly the aesthetic that I had always thought of for what was then-TS7 (I even wrote a predictions post referencing the pictured image). Needless to say this is still a photoshoot I think about regularly. Not just for the fashion but also the dewy, glowing makeup and hair.

2015 Vogue Australia: Atelier Versace Fall 2015 Couture / Full spread here. I find this photoshoot so inspiring and cool. The pairing of couture runway gowns (yes, every single gown in the spread is haute couture) with flimsy pastel cotton bras feels so disarming and intimate and vulnerable. Symbolically it feels to me like a distillation of everything that Taylor is. An aspirational blonde with a model’s face and measurements who’s made a career of spinning the yearning pages of her teenage diaries into chart-topping hits; exposing her deepest feelings and experiences of life and love. I continue to be obsessed with the concept to this day.

2015 Vogue: Oscar de la Renta Spring 2015 / Full spread here. Listen, regardless of what happened to the bond between the two people captured in the images of this spread, this photoshoot is iconic and I stand by it. I regret nothing. Every photo is a LEWK.

2017 reputation: Full spread here. In an odd way it makes sense to me that the other album photoshoot included here is Taylor’s other album that I think most significantly explores the idea of duality/split personality. I love this photoshoot for looking exactly the way the reputation album sounds. At its core, reputation is an album about love. A true love that took root in a chaotic time, and carefully fostered in private while Taylor’s public identity was falsified and blown apart. The juxtaposition of tough black looks and slouching hip-high boots with rainbow sequins demonstrates the dichotomy between an artist’s false tough exterior and their soft underbelly. Anyway let’s just say there’s a reason why the Taylor Swift Style desktop theme has not changed since 2017.

What do you think of my Top 10 photoshoots, TSSers?