What is Taylor Swift even wearing these days?

It's a Gossip Time x I <3 Mess special report!

Hello and welcome to Gossip Time, a weekly guide to the stars by Allie Jones. Today, we have the incomparable

Emily Kirkpatrick

of the hysterical

I <3 Mess

newsletter talking about Taylor Swift’s “style” in her current Tortured Poet era. This post is just for paid subscribers; if you’d like to sign up, you can do so in the box below. And be sure to subscribe to

I <3 Mess

too!

On Friday, Taylor Swift launched her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, and with it, a whole new look. Everything is black and white and sepia; ribbon chokers and Little Women hair; “the 1830s but without all the racists.” We can’t really ask WHY, but we can ask: Is it working? Emily and I met up in a Google doc, typed up our thoughts, then printed it all out and burned the edges of the paper. Behold. 

Allie: Emily, I am so happy to be talking to you about this new Era, because I really need a fashion expert to explain it to me. We know Taylor loves a costume, but all of this feels extra costume-y and corny, even for her. My friend George Civeris’s tweet about her Spotify “library” installation at The Grove really made me laugh:  

Perhaps we should start, though, with Tay’s look for the Grammys, which is where she announced the new album in the first place.

I thought she had a French pedicure for a second. False alarm.

Emily: The Grammys outfit is particularly haunting in hindsight as we now know that it’s actually a recreation of a look from her music video for “Fortnight.” But that does explain why it felt so costume-y.