I barely recognized Taylor Swift without her signature red lips. Even when she doesn’t do fire-engine red lipstick, she usually goes for darker, bolder lips, so she really does look different in this Lucky Magazine photoshoot. Washed out… but not bad. Anyway, Taylor is still promoting her new album and that apparently involves A) hats and B) incessant talk about how happy she is to be single. I believe she’s happy (-ish) to be single right now, but I think this is just a phase where she talks about boys by talking about the lack of boys in her life. Some highlights from the Lucky piece:
No more fairytale romances: “Wow, I really used to think that happily ever after was a thing. Not in those simple terms…I think that no matter what you find in terms of happiness and compatibility, there’s always going to be a struggle attached to it. I used to believe that you find the one and that’s it: Nothing’s difficult after that. But then again, I know nothing now. I know legitimately nothing about lasting relationship experiences because I don’t have them.”
She’s obsessed with coffee: “Coffee’s a big part of my life. Skinny caramel lattes are a daily thing that I get excited about and I never stop being excited about. So if I could just find one person who I felt that way about—the way I feel about coffee—then I think I’d be in a content relationship.”
Her girlfriends: “A lot of my life has to be protected, just because of the circumstances I’m under. But with my friends there’s absolutely nothing held back. Every detail of every story is told. There’s no editing.”
Fame and privacy: “I wanted to make music. I didn’t know that came with this expectation that your whole life is owned by the general public and everything you do is dissected, scrutinized and questioned. Because [people with] a sunny outlook are a lot easier to deal with, be around, befriend and handle than people who are bitter about it. People who are, like, complaining about the life of being a celebrity. It’s a little irritating.”
The mystery surrounding her belly button: “I don’t like showing my belly button. When you start showing your belly button then you’re really committing to the midriff thing. I only partially commit to the midriff thing—you’re only seeing lower rib cage. I don’t want people to know if I have one or not. I want that to be a mystery. As far as anyone knows based on my public appearances, they haven’t seen evidence of a belly button. It could be pierced. They have no idea. If I’m going to get some sort of massive tattoo, it’s going to be right next to my belly button because no one’s ever going to see that.”
On the face of it, I see nothing wrong with anything she’s saying now. Swifty is in-process at the moment. She’s still figuring out her life, maturing into womanhood and the whole process is amplified because she’s such a celebrity and because she’s largely working out her life drama in public, in interviews. I’ll kind of admit it – I find this part of Swifty charming. I’m reminded of her youth and how she’s reached that weird moment in her 20s when she realizes that she was full of sh-t and didn’t know anything just five years previous.
Also – Swifty is going to perform “Blank Space” tonight at the AMAs. She’s also receiving The Dick Clark Award for Excellence. Diana Ross will present the award to her!!! That’s crazy to me. But I’m looking forward to seeing what Swifty wears.
Photos courtesy of Lucky.
I love the new Taylor Swift
Me too. And what she says about celebrities that complain, AMEN Swifty, I completely agree.
And she became super famous at a very young age ( younger than JLaw I believe) , yet I don’t remember her complaining much.
She spends her entire life complaining for money. Does she really think she deserves a cookie for complaining about boys, girls, relationships, popular kids, school, victimhood, critics doing their jobs, Twitter, scandalous backup dancer breakups, “sexism”, and fielding comments on her singing and use of autotune? Get real.
The reason she doesn’t directly complain about fame to magazines is because it goes against her image and it isn’t profitable, plain and simple.
But that’s the point, she’s smart enough not to complain against things that bring her money. Most celebrities want their cake and eat it too. Swifty’s got game.
But on the other hand she’s looking down upon celebs who “complain” or perhaps publicly discuss the perils of being famous as if she has a high horse to sit on when it comes to public complaining. She may be coached well by savvy people to maintain her pristine celebrity image (haha), but she is hilarious if she thinks she has any room to judge. The (staged?) lack of self awareness with this one is amazing.
I thought it was Chloe Moretz at first glance. She looks so young
i was going to say she looks so young in the pics, too. Good pics, though, changes her looks up.
“People who are, like, complaining about the life of being a celebrity. It’s a little irritating.”
CO-SIGN.
I’m trying to envision a scenario in which I would be interested in Taylor Swift’s belly button. I’m struggling. I mean, it’s not like an autopsy of Einstein’s brain, is it?
Fun fact, although disgusting: Michael Jackson lacked a belly button when examined during autopsy.
Oh, thank you for that mental image, young lady!
Yeah, we will thank you for that later.
Thanks for creeping out my morning!
Swift makes it sound like some Area 51 type mystery. If only Mulder and Scully were still on the case…
She likes coffee, what a revelation. As for getting irritated by celebrities complaining ,I think she’ll change her tune when she starts getting hounded by aggressive paparazzi.
I think she is, she’s one of the biggest celebrities out there.
Can you even taste the coffee on a “skinny caramel latte”? I myself like a triple espresso straight up.
im irrationally irritated by flavored coffee drinks and the kind of things people put in coffee to be able to drink it
Sounds perfectly rational, Lisa. I am too. 😉
Or you could just like your coffee and not care about how other people drink their coffee.
I can drink black no problembut I still love me some fancy calorific coffee drinks too now and then. You gotta live a little 😉 Oh and any excuse toe eat whip cream is one I’ll take!
Is this her “new look?” I like it.
I like her, but she’s getting over-exposed. I’m getting tired of hearing about her.
I have never commented on Taylor Swift but her comments are refreshingly honest. I do think she understands and has experienced the downside of celebrity but she is smart enough to know that these days the public grows tired of celebrities first. A smart celebrity is like a diplomat these days..you whine, we hate you and you can’t win us back! I think celebitchy is good at giving that nod to the celebrities who play it smart..isn’t that what this site is about in some ways?
I think when she was publicly dissed by Tina Fey for being a ditzy blond she came back with the wise words of Madeline Albright “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women” I liked her. I think she has made some mistakes and the public will grow tired of her first but she will continue to be a hugely successful woman laughing all the way to the coffee shop.
Oh for eff’s sake, they made a joke about the dating habits of She Who Humiliates And Drags Everyone Through The Mud For Profit and Entertainment. If you seriously think that that was worth a serious quote from a groundbreaking female world leader who people wished were able to run for President, then you have to learn to lighten up a few thousand shades just like Taylor herself.
+1
who said she was running for President. I predicted she would be a rich woman who likes to drink coffee. Our obsession with celebrity won’t allow her to be anything else. Kind of a waste. even a waste of time to comment, I guess.
@geneva Why would you think Madeleine Albright would just be a rich woman who likes coffee? Not being snarky, I am genuinely asking.
“Oh for eff’s sake, they made a joke about the dating habits of She Who Humiliates And Drags Everyone Through The Mud For Profit and Entertainment. ”
OH PLEASE. John Mayer is a NOTORIOUS man-whore – where is his public shaming? (Yes, people do make fun of him in gossip blogs, but to my knowledge no one has criticized him in public at an awards ceremony.) I know Tina and Amy like to poke fun at people, but this was a little too ‘Mean Girl’-esque for me.
Furthermore, you act like Taylor is the first singer ever to write songs about an ex. Marvin Gaye wrote an entire album about his soon to be ex-wife, Anna Gordy. Gwen Stefani, Pink, Ed Sheeran, Justin Timberlake, Drake, and Carly Simon are just a handful of artists who have written songs about exes. There’s a great lyric in the White Stripes song Denial Twist: “Make sure to never do it with a singer, ’cause he’ll tell everyone in the world what he was thinking about the girl.”
Listen, I’m no major Swiftie (I like some of her songs well enough, but certainly not a stan.) – but I find the double standard disgusting.
Balls.
I love Tina Fey but it was a really rude joke. Shaming a girl for dating guys—lame.
Agreed. Though I like Taylor and am more and more impressed by what she has to say (she is incredibly savvy), I have conflicted feelings about her reactions to criticism/jokes about her. Especially her response to this joke from the Golden Globes. This notion that they were shaming her for dating boys
She’s obviously allowed to be hurt by it, nobody can dictate her feelings. But the idea that you can’t make a joke about another woman without being called anti-feminist is kind of mind boggling to me. We should support each other, yes, but at the same time we should be able to joke about one another the way men joke about one another and not be slapped with some kind of sanction.
Throwing that quote out about Fey and Poehler not helping women was more out of line than any ribbing. They were advancing women’s causes before Swift was even thinking of exiting her slut-shaming phase (look at Amy’s Smart Girls project). Does nobody remember how anti other female her songs used to be?
@Geneva, I don’t think her comments are “refreshingly honest” but I do think she is very pr saavy and understands (or her handlers do at least) what you are talking about in terms of celebrity fatigue. She plays the game very well. I didn’t like her at first because she pulled stunts and frankly, was not a very good singer. But she is an excellent songwriter and she has done the work to improve her singing. So good for her.
That being said, I think you are reaching when you praise her quoting Madeline Albright in response to a joke that was spot on. It was no meaner than many of the other jokes that night. Swift’s response showed her youth and lack of maturity. Someone more seasoned would have simply laughed along and been flattered to have gotten the attention of such talented and well-known comedians. People appreciate those who can laugh at themselves. Instead, Swift came off looking petty.
I’ve always thought she seems really harmless and who cares if 8 year old girls are singing along to her? Heck, at that age some of us were listening to Debbie Gibson. Having said that, I wish I could reduce the number of times per day she shows up in one of my news feeds, as I myself am not an 8 year old girl.
That’s what I was thinking, but you said it better.
oh, yeah. And Tiffani – I remember doing an interpretive dance, in roller skates no less, to “I Think We’re Alone Now” in 4th grade with a few of my friends. At school, in our homeroom talent show. Ms. McC just stared and stared when we were through. We did not win.
She used to really get under my skin, but she’s grown on me.
She kind of sounds like she *is* complaining about the life of a celebrity though, and she mentions it often. Maybe she does so less than others? But she often complains about how “the media gets her wrong” and “her personal life is dissected”.
The belly button thing is hilarious, but I think she can edit her interviews to hold something back. Girl, we don’t need to know all your thoughts.
We are never ever ever… going to see photos of her frolicking on a beach in a bikini.
Just bing or google Tayler Swift Perth beach
I have to say I love a girls girl. She seems to be surrounded by a lot of women these days and I truly believe that is changing her.
It also seems like she’s learning to take herself less seriously.
I don’t know…I don’t have any ill towards her. I think she works hard, is always gracious to her fans and she understands her place in the music biz and in celebrity culture.
I do laugh at her parading around NYC in sky high heels looking pigeon toed, but to each their own. I would laugh more if she went KStew in appearance because she lives in NYC.
I used to find Taylor Swift annoying when she was younger, but she is maturing rather wonderfully, particularly given the environment in which she has to do it. The Hollywood environment in which she has largely grown in up usually prevents people from maturing; it’s full of sycophantic people who over-indulge their “moneymakers” in their childish whims (see: Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, etc…) But someone, Swifty has managed to buck this trend and is coming into her own in a very admirable way. I used to find her songs about her past boyfriends to be rather childish and bitter, but I thinks she’s starting to realize this herself. She admitting that she bought into that innocent girl storybook fantasy and, in reality, it doesn’t exist (which is why they are called fairytales). I have to say (as others here have) that I rather like the “new” Swifty.
I’ve never cared much about Taylor Swift but I give her credit for a) writing a lot of her own songs, and b) NOT turning into a complete and total douchenozzle like many other young stars. Swift is talented, and when she coached on The Voice earlier this season, she showed that she really has solid strategies for being a good entertainer, delivering a solid performance, getting audiences involved, etc. So now I believe that she has the smarts and the goods to have a pretty fantastic lifelong career. I wish that other young singers would see what she is doing and, I don’t know, just become aware that so far, they’re not showing that they have what it takes to last beyond their first 15 minutes.
Not everyone celebrity is wealthy enough to be able to have half a dozen bodyguards keeping the paps in line at all times. If she actually had to deal with aggressive paps getting right in her face she probably wouldn’t be so chill on her daily pap walks.
She’s growing on me… but not too much. People are too hard to this girl, I remmember her performing “All too well” last year and she was very good, her voice was strong and she performed the song greatly, but all people wanted was to complain about her headbanging (which I loved ).
Her music really isn’t my thing but I’m growing to like Taylor. She’s bringing class back in an age where pop is all about T&A and she seems to have tapped into a big market for that. She seems like quite a smart business woman. She has her own style and doesn’t care if other people think it’s “twee” – cause it’s her own style. She’s not a snarky passive- aggressive douche like many other celebs out there. Like her.
I don’t know why but that belly button comment is so stupid it irks me. All you have to do is Google ‘Taylor Swift belly button’ and you can look at it in all its mysterious glory.