People Style Watch Q&A

People Style Watch Magazine
Published: February 2015

The multiplatinum singer-songwriter knows a thing or two about amazing style! Here Taylor Swift chats about her ever-evolving fashion and more

How has your style evolved over the past few years?
I’ve been more willing to take chances with the things I wear. I like to experiment with color, patterns and silhouettes that used to intimidate me. I think part of growing up is trying things on an seeing what fits, wether it be a fashion statement or a city to live in.

Describe your style now
Feminine but bold. I’ll always love a classic look, but these days I’m more likely to add an unexpected color pop or an element of surprise.

Asos Magazine: Girl Power

Asos Magazine
Published: January 2015

Taylor Swift sells millions of records, is BFFs with Lorde and Lena Dunham, knows the best way to mend a broken heart and looks amazing. So what’s the secret to mega girl power, TSwizz style? Well, why don’t we let her tell you… 

It is the sort of day when Taylor Swift is everywhere. I turn on the radio and Shake It Off  blasts out, its infectious hook encouraging the world to, among other things, get down to ‘This. Sick. Beat.’ On my desk is British Vogue with Taylor on its cover in a perfect pastel Miu Miu outfit, and on my phone the internet is basically breaking itself with hype about 1989, Taylor’s fifth studio album.

It’s not necessarily abnormal for the day to start in a Taylor Swift frenzy. Lately, whether she’s releasing an album or not, there will usually be some news story –about what she’s doing/where she’s eating/who she’s eating with/her BFFs or even her cats – that’s sent Instagram insane and has Tumblr tripping over itself. She is, after all, one of the biggest artists in the world right now, Billboard’s Woman of 2014 and the first person to ever receive that award twice.

The Guardian – Taylor Swift: ‘Sexy? Not on my radar’

The Guardian
Published: August 23, 2014

She’s gone from ringletted country artist to feminist role model and the world’s most charming pop star. As she returns with her catchiest material yet, she talks awards-ceremony etiquette, autobiographical lyrics and why she puts nice before naughty

In Manhattan’s chi-chi Sant Ambroeus restaurant, the pair of smartly dressed women at the next table are making not-so-surreptitious “eek” faces at each other, having clocked that their neighbour for lunch is Taylor Swift. And that’s nothing compared to the commotion gathering outside: wherever Taylor Swift dines, a swarm of fans and paparazzi soon forms on the pavement.

Us Weekly: Taylor acts up!

Us Weekly
Published: August 25, 2014

Most freshyizced actresses are hungry for the biggest part they can nab. Taylor Swift would only accept the smallest. “The fact that it’s so tiny is what drew me to it,” the star, 24, tells Us of her role as supernaturally gifted student Rosemary in the sciji fantasy The Giver (in theaters now). “I didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew with a leading role just yet.”

Besides, Swift – whose prior screen credits include a bit part in the 2010 rom-com Valentines Day and cameos in TV’s New Girl and CSI – has a dayjab. As she explains, “I only had so much time because I’m so busy with my music. So to take a week off to film in South Africa last October and learn what it’s like to be on a film set was a dream scenario.” Swift (Psst! She’s been hinting online that her fifth album may be on the way) shares more fond memories exclusively with Us.

The film is based on a popular dystopian YA novel. Is that why you signed on?
Oh, yeah. The Giver had a huge impact on me when I was in school. It made me think about how strange it is that intense pain is usually balanced out by intense joy – obviously a theme I explore in music.

An interview with Taylor Swift (Rosemary in the movie The Giver)

The Giver Movie Tie-In Edition
Published: July 1, 2014

Q: What attracted you to The Giver?
A: I read scripts all the time, and I have been in very tiny parts in one or two movies because I was always waiting for the right thing to come along to fully commit. When I read The Giver – first of all, I remembered reading the book, and I remember it deeply affecting me in school. But picturing the characters played by Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep, and these incredible actors who had already signed on to the project, it was absolutely an honor to be approached to play Rosemary.

Q: Well, describe Rosemary for us. It’s interesting because Rosemary in the book doesn’t play piano. When you were given the script, was she already a piano player, or did you put that in there? How did that work?
A: Rosemary is such an interesting character to me because she reminds me of an analogy for the modern-day artist: a lot of the time, you’ll have someone who is so fragile and so vunerable and so open, and that’s the reason why they are successfull at making art. But that can also be their downfall. Rosemary felt too much. She cared too much. She was exposed to too much, and she couldn’t handle it, and I think that we see that play out in modern-day society all the time.
When I read the script, Rosemary was playing piano. It’s so interesting that she gets to be a musician, because in my mind, that is exactly the kind of vunerable, sensitive human being who would be chosen to remember memories, and who might be so sensitive and vunerable that they end up getting completely pulled into it, and go into a downward spiral because of it.

Swift Rise

Sea Ray Living
Published: Spring 2006

Meet Taylor Swift, the 16-year-old daughter of Sea Ray owners Scott and Andrea Swift, and a freshly signed country music artist on Big Machine Record. Sure she’s got the stage presence, songwriting and singing talents to blow you away, but we’re certain being a Sea Ray kid has to have contributed to her success.

Taylor and her brother, Austin, grew up spending weekends and summers at Stone Harbor on the New Jersey shore on the family’s 210 Sundeck. “It was our way of life,” Scott says. But Taylor was signed to a development deal by RCA when she was 12 and Nashville called. The family discovered Old Hickory Lake, and a house with a dock where they now keep their 420 Sundancer and 220 Sundeck bought from Erwin Marine.

“I’ve always loved boating with my family, and now living on Old Hickroy we can do it almost anytime we want,” Taylor says. “Signing with Big Machine just adds another level of excitement all together.”

Debut Singer/Songwriters Climbing The Artist Success Ladder

Music Row
Published: December 2006
by David M. Ross

Singer/songwriters have always been a country music mainstay and ’06 produced a bumper crop… Their music is diverse – it spans from country rock to roots to traditional to country pop. The short info-graphs are not intended to be critical reviews, rather they are fashioned to give readers an idea of each artist’s story and musical style. Purists may find Hunks & Hotties a disrespectful moniker, but a quick glimpse at the photos should prove the point that in today’s video-centric entertainment world, image is a factor not to be ignored…

Taylor Swift
Label: Big Machine
Producer: Nathan Chapman
Management: Taylor Swift Ent.
Release Date: 10/24/2006
Debut Week Sales: 39,062
Total Sales (12/6/06): 137,075

Debut Spotlight

CMA Close Up Magazine
Published: October/November 2006

Some people spend a lifetime looking for their true calling. Taylor Swift is not one of those people. By the time she was 10, this Wyomissing, Penn., native was “dragging” her parents to festivals, fairs, karaoke contests – just about anywhere there was a stage where she could get up and sing. A year later, she was in Nashville knocking on record company doors. Swift describes her sales pitch at the time as “Hello, I’m Taylor Swift, I’m 11 and I want a record deal.” She didn’t get signed at 11, but she did walk away with some important lessons.

“That trip made me realize I needed to be different than everyone else people saw on Music Row every day,” she said.

Swift returned home, got a 12-string guitar, taught herself how to play and jumped into writing songs. “I played about four hours a day until my parents made me stop to come and eat dinner,” Swift said. “I loved it that much.”

Country Weekly: Music – Who’s New

Country Weekly
Published: July 31, 2006

On the air: “Tim McGraw”

Album: As yet untitled, set for release late summer

Hometowns: Wyomissing, Pa.

Favorite Albums: Blue (1996), LeAnn Rimes; Set This Circus Down (2001), Tim McGraw; Kerosene (2005), Miranda Lambert

Tim’s tune
Taylor’s debut single is called “Tim McGraw”, but it’s not really about Tim – it’s about how we associate our favorite music with the emotions we’re feeling when we hear it.
Nonetheless, she gave a copy to Tim’s producer to pass along to the superstar himself. “Let’s hope he likes it, and doesn’t think I’m a stalker,” she chuckles.

In Tune With Tim

Country Weekly
Published: September 11, 2006

Tim McGraw plays cupid in Taylor Swift’s debut video
By Chris Neal

Taylor Swift’s first top 40 hit, “Tim McGraw”, isn’t really about the superstar of the title. “The song is about the hauting power of country music,” explains Taylor, 16, who co-wrote the tune. “It’s about two people who fall in love to a Tim McGraw song. Even after they break up, every time they hear that song it takes them right back to that place.”

Taylor and actor Clayton Collins play out that story line in the video, which was shot a few months ago at a cabin that belonged to Johnny Cash in Hendersonville, just outside Nashville. “It was absolutely amazing,” notes Taylor. “The building where we did makeup and hair was Johnny and June’s studio. It was just unbelievable, all the history that goes along with being on that property.”