Taylor Swift covers the new issue of InStyle, which surprisingly enough does not look like a reprint. Most of the time, InStyle does seem… I don’t know, like they jacked their editorials from another source. These quotes sound new too. Tay-Tay is asked about boys, of course, but Taylor has some new stuff to say about her maturing taste in boyfriends (“Good hair” is no longer her #1 must-have?) and she also talks about her super-twee friendship with Lena Dunham. Because of course they’re BFFs now. Some highlights:

What Swifty looks for in a man: “I think it needs to change. My friends tease me about the fact that if someone seems bad or shady or like they have a secret, I find them incredibly interesting. That’s just a phase I’ve been in lately. I don’t think this should be how I proceed in life. It’s important to be self-aware about these things because you don’t want to end up with that guy.”

She hasn’t had a boyfriend in a while: “I haven’t been [in a relationship] in a long time. I’d like to think if you’re with the right person, you just feel great about things you’ve never felt great about before. At least that’s how I’ve heard it’s supposed to be. I wouldn’t know.”

Dating the wrong guys: “Sometimes you know after two dates that you’re not the right fit. And sometimes you know you’re not the right fit, and you fall for it anyway. One thing I’ve learned that I’m proud of – drum roll, please – is when to walk away. I’ve had some short relationships because I know when to do that.”

She’s got one dude friend, Ed Sheeran: “Ed and I are such good friends. I have never had such a close guy friend before. It’s always kind of creepy because with a guy friend-girl friend situation, it usually feels like one person always wants more. That’s not the case here… But, if you want to be friends with me, just know people are going to say we’re dating.”

Her friendship with Lena Dunham: Part of what keeps them close is that even though Lena is shooting Girls ‘like, 40,000 hours a day,’ the Red singer says, ‘She can always figure out a couple of hours to come visit.’ The two met not at a Hollywood event or through actor friends, but on Twitter. ‘We follow each other, and she sent me a direct message, and it just became a mutual admiration society… It then became apparent that we were very similar. Very similar. I feel like I can tell her anything,’ Taylor adds.

[From InStyle via The Mail]

I think we should declare victory and leave the field of battle. Taylor is basically admitting that she has crappy, immature taste in men and that she’s spent much of the past year without a boyfriend because she wanted to figure some of her sh-t out. Taylor hasn’t publicly had a boyfriend since Harry Styles, although I do wonder about her relationship with Matthew Gray Gubler. I think there was something there, and maybe there still is. But whatever’s happening, Taylor’s game has gotten a bit tighter since Harry Styles, hasn’t it? Also: I kind of love that Taylor and Ed are friends. I know Ed’s fan-girls don’t like it, but I think it’s sweet. She’s this tall, rangy American chick and he’s a short, ginger English bloke, and they make music together. It’s adorable.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.