Star Image: Taylor Swift

Richard Dyer argues that  "a star is an image not a real person", this suggest that the way an artists dresses and behaves forms their appearance in the media.  Management can manipulate this to make the artist stand out and fit to conventions or, alternatively to contradict these expectations and cause media excitement, thus drawing the attention of the public. (Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus etc)

Early Star Image

In Taylor Swift's first music video "Love Story" she is depicted as both a young college student and a costumer-drama type character - a young 'Juliet'.  Both characters are wearing subtle makeup and appear innocent as the gaze out from behind their eyelashes.  However, interestingly, the shots where Swift is performing and using direct address as she stares seemingly through the camera, are the shots where she is the most "provocatively" dressed. On the other hand she does still appear sweet and innocent and there is a lack of voyeurism. This created Swifts 'Good girl' image and landed her the title of "America's sweetheart"

This shot with direct address creates Taylor Swift as a sweet and innocent star. 

Star Image Development

Taylor Swifts image began to change with the release of her album "Red" in 2012. This album is more of the pop genre, compared to her older songs which are of Country origin.  Her music video "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" shows Swift with a new hairstyle, free of her iconic blonde curls and sporting a bright red lipstick which becomes an essential part of her image later on. This is the beginning of her 'redevelopment' as a pop artist. However, she keeps her good girl element, perhaps elevating it slightly by showing a cheekier side to her, emphasized by the bright lipstick.

Star Image before "Red". Pictured wearing nude makeup and her iconic blonde curls

"Red" Album.  Taylor Swift has replaced her curls for straight hair and a fringe and began to wear bright red lipstick in her music videos. This marks the beginning of her change as an artist as she begins to conform more to pop music conventions and leave country ones behind.

However, Swift's image truly changed with the release of her new album 1989.  The music videos that accompany some of these tracks show a newer side to Swift. She is pictured wearing heavier make-up and losing some of her 'good girl' appeal. This is especially apparent in her video 'Bad Blood where her day dresses have been traded in for leather shorts and straps and her hairbrushes for weapons. On the other hand, you could argue that this is due to the video being a seemingly comic parody of spy movies.  

How is she sold?

Swift's music videos usually detail narratives between two lovers and more often than not, she plays the female lead of this couple. It is because of this reoccurring theme that she was given a 'good girl' image and her efforts were focused on being America's sweetheart. Recently however, she has tried to escape from this limited title and show both her and her art has many different sides and that she is not limited to one genre or narrowed perception. In these music videos and those that do contain performance shots, Swift is always the centerpiece of a band and a variety of close ups establish her importance as she sings into the camera. There is rarely ever a theme of voyeurism or explicit sexuality in her videos as they are targeted to young adults. Due to this audience, she has been created as an icon for young teenage girls who look up to her in terms of style, appearance and behaviour. Moreover, despite media publicity that portrays her as "desperate" or "needy" due to her numerous love songs, Swift argues that her songs are written based on emotions and significant events and encourages young girls to do the same. 

The celebrity endorsements that she features in have also began to embrace her newer image and replaced the good girl photos with Swift's cheekier side, evident in her latest videos. 

For example, this diet coke advert from 2013 has used Taylor Swift's look from her video "We are never ever getting back together" which was released a year before.  It shows her newly developed pop image and has both a performance shot and a regular shot to show her contrasting images.