What do Red, Reputation, The Tortured Poets Department, and The Life of a Showgirl all have in common? Not just Taylor Swift, but Taylor Swift’s enduring bangs.
In her efforts to avoid being pigeonholed in an aesthetic that would eventually expire, reinvention has become Swift’s brand. This concept was a focal point in her 2020 documentary, Miss Americana: “The female artists that I know of have reinvented themselves 20 times more than the male artists,” she said. “They have to. Or else you’re out of a job.”
Swift has explained that this pressure from the music industry and society in general is one of the main reasons she operates in “eras.” And so far, it’s working. Assigning each of her albums its own tightly curated (and nostalgia-primed) visual code, she made the Eras Tour—the highest-grossing tour in history—possible. The recipe is simple: With each new album comes a shiny new Taylor, complete with a new wardrobe, new special interests, new favorite colors—but somewhat inexplicably, the same blunt, thick bangs.
As the Swiftie lore goes, Taylor Swift first cut her bangs on the eve of her 22nd birthday, while shooting her 2012 Vogue cover. In a behind-the-scenes interview, she explains that the beauty team on set suggested using extensions to create a faux fringe. To this, she replied, “Just cut it. This is Vogue, why not?” And with that, a choice that most women vex over for weeks was made for her—and so, apparently, was a lifelong commitment.
