The Art of Reinvention (Taylor’s Version)
It’s human nature to be constantly reinventing ourselves. Changing our clothes, style, hair, likes, and dislikes to match how we feel as we grow into new versions of ourselves. Or maybe you go through a breakup and decide you’re in your ‘revenge era.’ Well, there is one person who has mastered the art of reinvention and integrated it into not only their art but their actual livelihood: Taylor Swift.
Although Swift has taken this phenomenon and made it the driving central factor of her empire, it is the sad truth that this is likely because women are thrown out of the spotlight when they aren’t the shiny new toy. She said her best herself in her 2019 documentary Miss Americana, “The female artists I know of have reinvented themselves 20 times more than the male artists. They have to or else you're out of a job. Constantly having to reinvent, constantly finding new facets of yourself that people find to be shiny” (Swift). And this is what Swift does with each new album drop. Swift has never backed down from the challenge of reinvention and she doesn’t let her comfort zone hold her back.
As early as 2006, she started her career as the love-sick, fairytale-fated teenager fighting with the petulant emotions of love and heartbreak. Songs like “Love Story,” “You Belong With Me,” and “Tim Mcgraw” encapsulate this era of her career. As the years went on her music and album visuals matured. With albums like Red and 1989, she stepped away from country music and emphasized the relationships and friendships of her early 20s. The imagery that came along with the album, Reputation, is quite different from that of her other albums. It is the era of revenge. And since then, there have been many more reinventions and eras such as Folklore and Midnights to name a couple. Most recently with The Tortured Poets Department, she draws on the idea of grieving past lives and relationships with black and white, painful poetry. Again, an entirely brand-new concept that does not resemble any of her past works but still has vulnerability and authenticity.
But really, it is not just mega superstars and icons like Taylor Swift that reinvent themselves. We all do it to ourselves and try to dig deep and fish out new, exciting parts of ourselves. The difference is, our own reinventions aren’t hallmarked by showy new album drops. Maybe Swift has amassed a fan base of such enormous size because her ‘eras’ mirror the experiences of girls all over the world including navigating personal growth, loss, love, heartbreak, friendship, and so much more.
Swift has taken something that may seem like a curse to women and especially women musicians and made it the heart and soul of her brand. This is proven by her current tour, The Eras Tour, where fans dress up as any era of hers that resonate with them. No matter where you feel you are in your life, there is likely an era from Swift’s discography that would validate it.
By celebrating and accepting Swift's evolution as an artist including all of her eras, we also celebrate the countless women everywhere who navigate their own paths of reinvention.