A big part of personal growth requires shedding one’s skin and morphing into a bigger and stronger version of the persona you’ve chosen to take on in a bid for cultural relevance. So that’s why I’ve seen fit to make assumptions of Taylor Swift’s creative directions based on what I believe to be staples of her current mood board. Look what she made me do.
Slytherin-anything
With great reclamations come great responsibility. So a year after Kim Kardashian West exposed Taylor Swift for (alleged) snake-like behaviour and forever aligned her with the serpent Emoji, Swifty has taken it for herself by selling snake-shaped rings on her website.
Which means she’s gunning hard for that Slytherin placement on Pottermore — or at the very least, trying align herself with House following the adoption of her dramatic new aesthetic. And that’s a bummer for any of us who come by our Slytherin loyalties naturally: because while Swift may be wielding snake power in a bid to one-up bigger and better pop stars, the rest of us are stuck reconciling that our universal marker for like souls (read: ambitious and better-than-everybody else) is now the symbol of a singer whose most recent lyrical climax is an outgoing voicemail message. At least we all feel the way Snape looked.
Venom in Spiderman 3
“I want to dance like Peter Parker when he was Venom in Spiderman 3,” is a sentence I know in my heart Taylor Swift has said at least once.
Hot Topic
It seems obvious in the wake of her 2016 Met Gala dress, but Taylor’s darker, Evanescence-esque look is clearly the result of cutting and pasting the Hot Topic logo no less than three times across her mood board.
A brand steeped in dramatics, Tim Burton merch, and enough angst to fuel at least two years of North American high school, Hot Topic is the gateway to culture-centric rebellion by offering fashion-based solace to anyone with an affinity for Harley Quinn or Jack Skellington. And while Taylor has yet to take the plunge into an aesthetic formerly reserved for MySpace in 2006, her reclamation of dark neutrals while cosplaying whatever-she-thinks-being-edgy-is implies a profound respect for, and understanding of, the greatest mall staple this side of the Atlantic.
Kylo Ren
Because the old Ben also can’t come to the phone, and he just, like, gets it, you know?
The “we are the weirdos, mister” gif from The Craft
Despite never seeing The Craft in full, I like to believe that Taylor was still emotionally affected by the 1996’s film’s definitive moment in which Nancy and friends remind their bus driver of who the real outsiders are. So, scrolling through Tumblr, she finds it and, in awe of Neve Campbell’s 90s-appropriate wardrobe, prints out a copy and decides she is whoever Fairuza Balk is because of their shared short hair.
Later, she will also Google why so many sharks washed up on her private beach. (Prediction: “These are my gifts!” will be the chorus of her next hit single.)
Avril Lavigne, but specifically in 2004’s So Much For My Happy Ending
Because honestly nobody understood her, either.
The Walking Dead
“Not specific characters, and not even specific scenes. Just… I mean, look,” Taylor holds up a page-long Walking Dead ad and pastes it onto her poster board while speaking to her manager on the phone. “A lot of people like The Walking Dead. For a while, zombies were everywhere. And guess what: those zombies were also a bunch of people who can’t come to the phone anymore. No, it doesn’t matter that the zombies are the villains — honestly, no, stop. Seriously, just imagine me opening the video with me as a zombie. Imagine it. Are you imagining it? Fucking edgy. I’m basically Darryl.” A pause. “What do you mean Darryl’s a person?” She hangs up, cursing in self-taught Parseltongue.
Morticia Addams
As the matriarch of the Addams Family, Morticia represents strength. She represents vision, pride, purpose and embodies a complete understanding of self. Morticia Addams didn’t care about Katy Perry. She didn’t have time for Karlie Kloss. She would’ve scared Tom Hiddleston half to death. Morticia’s squad was her family. (Taylor finishes cutting out a photo of Anjelica Huston in SMASH and admires it proudly.)
Loki
But speaking of Tom Hiddleston, he certainly had himself figured out in the Avengers franchise, particularly his ability to shapeshift and change. I mean, on the one hand, yes: Tom Hiddleston is Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriend and absolutely wore a “I [Heart] T.S.” shirt that we will never, ever forget for as long as any of us are alive.
But on the other, Loki is suave. Sure, he was seen as a traitor — as a villain. (Particularly in the movie, The Avengers.) And yes, he almost destroyed the world in an attempt to take it over, but he is so unapologetically evil. So misunderstood and shifty. So able to reinvent. To rebrand. To wear a cape. He carried a staph. Also, he’s funny, which is a trait that would’ve helped Look What You Made Me Do profoundly. I’d be shocked if he wasn’t on her mood board, honestly.
Kanye West
It’s called “aspiring to greatness”.
The Spice Girls
Because any mood board that doesn’t include the Spice Girls is absolute shit.