Taylor Swift's
Star Image
About "Taylor Swift"
"Taylor Swift" is an American singer, song write, and actress (Years active: 2004-present). She was born on the 13th of December in 1993. She began her music career at the age of 14 (Genre: Country), and became the youngest songwriter ever to be hired by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. She started her music career with genre "County" in 2006, and switched to "Pop" in 2008. Taylor Swift has changed almost everything about her star image (like music genre, styling, content, themes and motifs, concerts, music videos, song lyrics etc). She turned from a very innocent, sober, shy, and decent teenage girl to a very bold, classy, elegant, confident, fearless lady.
STYLING
Taylor swift has been changing her looks throughout her music career (turning from innocent and shy to bolder and confident).
*Hair: From "Long curly golden brown" to " Long wavy red blonde" to "Short straight blond blonde".
*Make up: "From soft and light" to "soft and dark" to "bold and dark".
*Dressing: From "decent and childish-frocks and gowns" to "glamorous , elegant, lady like, short and bold dresses".
Development of Taylor Swift's star image
Taylor Swift started her music career at the age of fourteen in 2006, and her music genres were "Tennesee" and "Country". Initially, she was represented as a teenage innocent young girl next door, and her music was all about the aspects that teenage girls face in this phase of their life. Her music became popular worldwide in a very short time, and her music videos got even better (more professional and glamorous), Swift also started attending awards ceremonies, and became a star.
Although her star image has entirely changed, and her music and style has become more mature, sophisticated, and bold, but she stills represents a good woman/a classy lady (unlike some other stars of her age group (like Miley Cyrus) who have matured in an inelegant manner).
Photo shoot 2015
Photo shoot 2008
Significant changes in Taylor Swift's star image over time
When Taylor Swift's first album "Taylor Swift" (named after her own name) was released in 2006, she was representing an innocent teenage girl with her curly hair (her signature hair style), natural makeup, girly frocks and gowns etc-her target audience were young teenage girls. she continued this thing in her second album "Fearless" as well, but that was a bit more professional.
In 2010, when her third album "Speak now" was released, we can say that it was the beginning of her transformation-she started wearing formal dresses in her music videos with a darker makeup, although her signature hair style (curly hair) was still there. Her music had very less characteristics of country genre, and there were more Pop sounds in this album. After the release of this album, she was considered as a Pop rock artist.
During her journey from her first album to second album, her music and her style changed to a lot, and it was just the beginning.
Change in Taylor swift's entire star image.
In 2013, when her album "Red" was released, we could see that her star image was entirely changed-completely different music genre (Pop), completely different music videos' content, and completely different styling. Album name "Red" connotates more sophistication, confident, and boldness. We could listen to proper pop music in this album, and Taylor Swift was seen in skimpy clothes with straight blonde hair and dark makeup. Her music videos contained more voyeurism than her previous albums and music videos (mature content). She continued this thing till the release of her most recent album "1989" (which was named after her birth year).
Why did Taylor Swift's star image have to change?
She had to change her star image to target a larger number of audience. she started her career and a 16 year old girly teenage girl, and her target audience were teenage girls. Taylor Swift is now 26 years old, and she needs to target older and more mature audience now, so she had to change her entire star image for that (from a young girl to a mature woman). Taylor swift changed her music genre from country to pop, because Pop is the most popular music genre in the global music industry. Taylor swift also changed her style and costumes (to look more seductive and sexy), and the content of her music videos (by adding more mature content and voyeurism-to gain attention from male audience as well).
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How I am going to represent star image in my project?
-Through close ups and mid shots of the artists (to show the artists' expressions, jesters, and actions).
-Through artists' costume and makeup (to represent their style).
-Through their musical instruments (to represent their genre).
-Through the location where the band performance occurs (to represent the mood and tone of their music).