Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss are doing the twinsies thing on the March cover of Vogue. The shoot is by Mikael Jansson – you can see the full slideshow here. The theme is “best friends’ roadtrip” and the photos are really good. Like, this is one of the best editorials I’ve seen from Vogue in a while (possibly because Mario Testino and Annie Leibovitz had nothing to do with it?). As for the BFFs interview… it’s very girly. It’s very cutesy. Maybe it’s because I’m too old for Swifty’s charms, but I found much of the cover story to be, in a word, cloying. I also had a clique of really close girlfriends in my late teens and early 20s – many girls do. It’s a college thing for a lot of young women. But I feel pretty strongly that this is just Swifty’s latest phase, and she will outgrow it like so many other women before her. But for now, these friendships are the most magical thing EVER!! Some highlights:
Why Swifty started developing a group of girlfriends: “To the way people were overreacting to my life. I was really irritated by the whole serial-dater play that people tried to make about me. I just decided I wasn’t willing to provide them that kind of entertainment anymore. I wasn’t going to go out on dates and have them be allowed to take pictures and say whatever they wanted about our body language. I wasn’t going to sit next to somebody and flirt with them for five minutes, because I know the next day he’ll be rumored to be my boyfriend. I just kind of took the narrative back. It’s unfortunate I had to do that. And it’s unfortunate that now I have this feeling like if I were to open myself up to love, that would be a career weakness.”
Taking the year off from dating: “This last year has felt very different than any other year of my life. I’ve felt more settled and unapologetic about who I am and what I stand for. I think that might be one of those symptoms of growing up and becoming your own person, and depending less on other people’s opinions of you. I just hope that keeps going—because I’m liking it.”
Whether she’s a Mean Girl about letting people into her clique: “I want to make the table as big as possible, and I want everyone to sit with me.”
Swifty also talks a lot about her clique’s diversity, like she’s hanging with brain surgeons or something. Like, she’s BFFs with Lena Dunham and Karlie and Selena Gomez and she also hangs with Jaime King and Lily Aldridge and Kylie Jenner. Which actually doesn’t sound all that diverse, you know? Swifty’s BFFs are almost exclusively models or entertainers and the crowd is 98% white and rich.
Ugh, this video is super-annoying. I couldn’t even finish it.
Photos courtesy of Mikael Jansson/VOGUE.
So she is basically admitting this “girl power”, only needs her friends phase is because she got sick of people commenting on her dating life, even though she was the one feeding that narrative with blind items and only talking about boys? I love how celebrities try to rewrite their own history.
I read it that way a bit myself. She didn’t seek out new friends because she wanted the friendships, but to chang the tabloid narrative abouther?
That’s what I read too, I was sort of surprised she admitted it. The photos are beautiful though.
At least i’m not the only one who read between the lines here. Swifty can’t just live and date while making friends. There has to be effort towards a singular goal. And that goal is her image.
Swifty is still young. And if you believe that you stop maturing at the age you become famous she’ll be this way well into her late 30’s.Falling in love quickly and completely, drama filled break ups, and having friends that are your besties 4 life, until they’re not anymore.
And a side note. I like Kloss better with her brown hair. I can’t tell her apart from the others now.
Wasn’t that going on with Madonna for awhile?? (the drama filled break ups and best friend rotation). I seem to remember that at some point in time that she would have a BESTFRIEND and they were ALWAYSTOGETHER because they were thisclose…but it was a new BESTFRIEND almost every week. I wanna say this was way the heck back before she ever got married, if that helps. lol
That’s what I was thinking as well.
I totally read that the same way. Seems a bit insincere to me.
It seems rather calculated… not that all people do not have their moments of being calculated…
Look, she is in her 20s…I remember being in my 20’s and having endless girlfriends (and boyfriends 😉 too. It’s all about having fun and people who relate to your superficial (but fun) problems and running in a pack. At some point in your life, generally your 30’s, they fall away and you keep the true BFFs.
Eh. It’s just like every other US Vogue cover in the last decade. Pretty, basic, forgettable.
and lily white.
Lily lily lily
Anna wintour has turned vogue into a self congratulating, celebrity f@ck fest. Taylor swift and her twee magical kitten sleepover party friends are not art or high fashion, not innovative or provocative. Neither is kimye. This magazine is lazy and self serving. At this point it’s a kitsch catalogue of people thrown in cause of net worth. Boo, anna, boo.
Yes to everything you just said
It hasn’t been this way for over decade? I can’t remember the last time I saw a copy of Vogue and thought it was fashion driven and not celeb promotion (like People) driven.
@Arock-perfectly stated my friend.
+ million
Cloying. Definitely cloying. This seems like a cover for Seventeen, not Vogue.
+1
That’s exactly what was nagging me, it’s for the wrong magazine! The cover doesn’t belong in haute couture Vogue, it should be in a teen mag like Seventeen.
+1
All Vogue covers look like this now. If past covers don’t look Seventeen’y it’s just because they use older celebs.
Vogue lost it’s cred as a legit fashion mag a long time ago.
Jesus wept…..and I like Swift :-/
I couldn’t finish the video, either. It was so juvenile, silly, and boring. The pictures are cute, though someone on Jezebel called Karlie and Taylor the grownup creepy The Shining twins, which is hilariously accurate.
Ahhhh can’t unsee it.
Ha!
It plays like a comedic spoof/meme of a real video.
I liked the shoot. One of my fantasies is to get a little vintage airstream and fix it up really cute and comfortable with quilts and vintage china and all that, so I loved that part, and both women are lovely.
I have made close friends all my life, and had the same best friend since second grade. I think girlfriends are absolutely essential and I cherish mine more as I grow older, not less. I still think they’re magic.
Same here. My girlfriends have been the deepest, most meaningful relationships I’ve ever had. I have learned more about love and compassion from these friendships than from all the men I’ve been with. They are my sisters and my soul-mates.
Me too, I have a group of friends from first grade. We don’t see each other as much these days but when we do get together it’s a blast. I think friendships are extremely important.
Most of my friends are from University and a couple from med school. I also have a few good friends I met later in life. My friendships are important to me and nothing is more magical than being able to ring up my best friend from University after not being in touch for a bit and it’s like we JUST talked to each other the day before.
Sometimes I feel weird that I have never really had a friend. I’ve had acquaintances but never a friend in the traditional sense like someone that I hang out with in my free time. And definitely never had anything close to a best friend. I guess it’s because I’m introverted, shy, and find myself really entertaining leaving me very little desire to seek out others. IDK, but reading comments like this makes me wonder if I missed out on something by never having that experience. Also, people sure treat you strange when you say you’ve never had a friend.
Jinni you’re not alone! I have never had a really close girl friend either. I’ve had acquaintances but no life long friends that I could say would be there for me for whatever I need or to take a girls trip together. I actually wish I could find a “best friend” but never have. I’m actually very outgoing but have just never made a close connection. I’ve tried which I feel might make me look desperate…so I don’t try anymore and just accept I won’t ever have those kinds of relationships. I’m like Paul Rudd in “I Love You Man”!
@Chelley: Thanks for the response. I hope that you eventually find a close friend that you can have the kind of connection you are looking for.
Jinni and Chelley,
Don’t give up. A lot of it’s luck, and it gets harder to make the connection as you get older. It’s also hard for me to initiate friendships, as I’m shy (with new people) and I’ve been lucky that most of my close friends were willing to take the first step. But whatever happens, I’m sure it’s not a reflection on either of you. Just like some women who are great never meet the right guy or girl to love. It’s never too late. This may not interest you at all, but I recently made a lot of new friends taking bridge lessons. You see each other week to week, so you have a chance for the relationship to develop, and you have a lot to talk about. Just a thought. Anyway, it’s worth pursuing, I think. It’s nice to have someone to talk to about anything and all that.
@jinny and Chelley, I am also an introvert, and my friendships happened organically. Like GNAT, it was all about luck and the willingness of people giving me a chance. You both sound like great people, so never give up! And if it helps at all, I spent Valentine’s Day sitting with four cats, eating chicken fingers and reading a biography of Louis B. Mayer. And I loved every second of it. Being your own best friend is what really matters. Hugs!
I’m like you as well. I haven’t had a true friend since junior high, just acquaintances that I occasionally run into. I’m also shy and introverted. I guess for some people making friends is harder than others.
i think that’s more common than many think. As I said with my friends from school, we don’t get to see each other that much, so I went through a time where I didn’t have people I hung out with regularly or did things with, especially as my long time friends had kids and it got harder and harder to get together. I ended up joining a couple of different meetup groups, and have made a few good friends from them. The one group does a lot of fun, different things – movies, dinner, book discussions, day trips. If you’re looking for people to do stuff with, those can be great, you can find people with similar interests or just people looking for more social options.
And if you’re not looking, I get that too. I’m more introverted as well, less than I used to be, but I still need my alone time, especially after being with people all day at work. A day, or even a whole weekend, with no plans is wonderful and much needed at times.
Yeah, I really didn’t get this. So apparently having close girlfriends is a phase now? I’m sorry, my friendships ARE magic and I intend for them to stay that way.
I think karlies boyfriend dumped her. They used to be all over and now, nada.
Yeah, that was something I was wondering about. A lot of her bffs have boyfriends but you almost never see them around in pics when they are hanging out with Taylor. Are all boys really not allowed? Though in Selena’s case, I really don’t blame her.
I didn’t realize her bf’s brother was married to Ivanka Trump.
I like the looks of both of their makeup.
(Finally someone took away Taylor’s big bold black eyeliner pencil. So the whole cat eye thing is gone.)
I like Swift too. No shame what so ever.
In the pack of 20 something girls, that are roaming about the fame game. Taylor is still practically the only one out there… dressing like she is not selling ass for a living.
Geez, I am tired of seeing nearly nude female’s, at every major event. And sadly that includes a bunch of 40 years old’s too.
I am curious if Matthew McConaughey knows that they took over his Airstream down there at the beach…
That’s not true. Emma Stone, Anna Kendrick, Jennifer Lawrence, Carey Mulligan, Emma Watson, etc. etc. etc. There are lots of young stars who don’t look like they’re “selling ass for a living”, they just don’t do daily pap walks and aren’t always in the news for hanging out with their BFF celebrity friends.
None of them are singers, though.
And JLaw just appeared naked with a snake in a recent shoot.
+1000! Being sexy can be accomplished without looking like a straight up hooker.
I don’t know. I was a teen in the 2000s and I would actually saw today’s celebs aren’t as bad. hahaha Miley Cyrus (previously) and Ariana Grande (now) aren’t really doing anything that Britney or Christina didn’t do…plus they weren’t competing with each other at the same time. You had time to process their bs lol We had Paris Hilton crotch shots, the beginnings of Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan was the “good one”. I’d actually say things might have improved a bit. hahahaha
I think she is a bit more striking as a brunette or whatever previous hairstyle that isnt this. (Karlie).
Most of my friends are from kindergarten to second grade. We are leading busy lives and apart most of the time, and it is always fun to catch up. But I have never ever dressed up and acted like them. I find weird and as if they (Karlie and Taylor) have no personality.
Rich white blonde girls on a magazine cover. Color me surprised. So shocking and original.
I don’t think that’s a problem as much as the cover/theme/story fall flat for a fashion magazine such as VOGUE.
It’s a waspy clothes catalog cover photo.
When I first saw the cover, I thought, “That’s a whole lot of bland” and I’m a tall blonde white woman. They are very pretty and seem sweet, but I suppose looking for diversity from Vogue (and most fashion magazines) is a moot point.
It’s an old J Crew Holiday edition.
“J Crew Holiday Edition” …HA. Perfect !
Agreed- Bland as toast. And visually, I get that they were going for a “fresh, earthy vibe.” They achieve that a little better in the bottom photo. But on the cover this look just ages them both, imo. They look over-bronzed and sweaty.
Yep, Swift has a very particular audience and they sure do play to it.
I boycott all fashion magazines that feature anorexic patrician blonds. And I love couture etc, I’ve been rescuing vintage since I was 14 years old. Just yesterday i wore opera length chocolate brown kid skin gloves. However I love art in fashion so deeply that I won’t abide the blandtastic.
Hey, perfect looking white blondes have lots of problems, too. Constant hair upkeep, fear of cellulite – it’s not all that easy.
Spending all that money, keeping SICK® lawyers busy, walking to and fro apartment photo ops, coming up with spectacularly awkward audience dance routines for attention, selecting onesie beige booty shorts, making new business-prospect-friends: exhausting.
Vogue is notoriously racist. One look at their covers, editorials, even the advertisements they allow. It’s pretty gross
Yet Taylor is still using hints about Harry Styles in her latest video. We all knew it was about him (she admitted it), yet she still couldn’t help putting clues in her new music video. She didn’t need to do that to get attention. This is what annoys me about Taylor.
+1000. Don’t act like you’ve spent this magically enlightening year completely isolating yourself from romantic relationships when you’re still using them to make money.
Pretty but incredibly boring.
I don’t begrudge her her friendships, but do 25 year olds really talk like that nowadays? It was a little weird to watch since they seemed like they were 10. I think I’ve heard more interesting conversations from 12 year olds at Starbucks.
I had to stop after the word “princess.” It’s got nothing to do with age. I didn’t talk like that at 11.
I live in a well-to-do area (which does not apply to me. I got a good deal on an apartment lol) and many of the women speak this way regardless of age. There are 12 year old talking like this as well as 45 year olds. All the women are walking around sounding like live version Twitter & Instagram accounts “OMG me & bff’s hangin @ beach 2day!!! YOLO!!!#awesome!!” I’ve even found myself slipping into it because you hear it SO much. I think the more moneyed women naturally speak in a stereotyped sorority girl type of way and then the others just emulate them so as to fit in. There is one woman that comes into the store I work at and if you speak with her on the phone you’d guess her to be MAYBE 26, TOPS.
But in reality she’s 56.
I just turned 27 and have been raising a child since I was 20, working my way through university while supporting us. I don’t relate to this fantasy world she lives in, most of my younger, single friends are pretty poor.
Cute but there is a Karlie and a Taylor in every high school across America. Bring back models with unique and striking features Vogue! No more basics and no more Kardashians.
Karlie is stunning with absolutely striking bone structure and features. WHY in this shoot she is made to look less attractive than Taylor Swift is a conspiracy theory I’d be willing to discuss. Taylor couldn’t be upstaged. These are some of Karlie’s worst modelling pictures ever.
Exactly what I was thinking. Like I actually liked karlie because she had an edge to her, almost like resident evil girl whose name escapes me… I’ve never seen her look so stale. Pity.
In the VS fashion show when they walked next to each other, it was very clear who was the super model, and who was the pop star. Here? It’s all about which pictures flatter Taylor.
If it’s any consolation I’d still pick Karlie out of the bunch, I see ‘similar’ they tried to make them but Karlie has got amazing cheekbones and eyes. Taylor is pretty but she’s not the model.
too much contouring on that cover, omg!
Full on annoying. As a member of their peer group though I am brunette, they embarrass me. Crap like that video makes it harder for the rest of us to be taken seriously as adult women. Having fun is one thing, but this perpetually stuck at 12 nonsense needs to go.
poor little Taylor, so angry people are calling you out on your pr games. dont date every in the closet pretty boy. dont write songs about well known men with a big female following. dont orchestrate pap shoots.
its hilarious how Tina Fey and Amy Poehler turned George Clooney into a married man and Taylor Swift into a single lady 😀
ahahaha yes!
Next time they should turn Justin Bieber into a good boy and Lindsay Lohan sober.
Please fire Anna Wintour!
I think the editorial looks great visually. Bland and not diverse? Of course, but it’s American vogue. To see a woman of color in the cover you have to win an Oscar or be super accomplished, which is extremely sad, but it’s not Taylor’s fault. We all know this is Taylor’s next career move and PR strategy, the friend collector. And truly is working in her favor.
Long time ago, I went with my then best friend to her portrait shoot. For support only, as she felt creeped out by the photographer.
In the middle of it, she said get in the pic! It took alot of convincing.
Later, she wanted half the fee of her sitting cause I was in A couple shots.
130 bucks in the late 80s was big money for a single mom of 2.
Glad that Taylor got this for free and kept her friendship.
What a jerk. I love my friends, but occasionally one can turn on you. I had a very close friend for 30 years – in each other’s weddings, yearly trips together, late night phone calls, shared laughter and tears for such a long time. She was the second person I called when I found out I had cancer. Didn’t hear one word from her again for eight months, then a text saying sorry she’d been out of touch, but work was really crazy. I’ve never been so disappointed in anyone in my life.
Wow that’s foul. I lost a good friend as well through actions of her own and I can echo that feeling of disappointment.
Maybe she was avoiding you because she was so upset or didn’t know what to say? That’s really tough, though GNAT, I’m sorry that happened. Given your awesome personality, I’m sure you have many other friends to turn to, but when you’re that close with someone and they let you down, it certainly changes things.
GNAT, she may have had more on her plate, thought it might have paled in comparison to your plight, and maybe your plight was also part of what overwhelmed her. It’s hard to tell what’s really going in in people’s lives. I’m not saying this person was good, right, or even a real friend, I just know life is complicated. Some of my worst times in life, I found the most unlikely, sometimes even strangers, stepping up to the plate at the right time, and doing more than people I really knew. It all depends.
Anyway, I’m sorry for that, because you seem like anything other than just a fair weather friend.
Well GoodNames, we all heart you!!!! CB wouldn’t be the same without you.
I Swear it GNAT ! you and I live parallel lives. This same thing happened to me. I had a girlfriend since grade 11 and same description of our lives as you just gave, and out of the blue, she stopped speaking, contacting, phoning… me, I have no idea why…. it makes me question everything I have ever said, …. what? what did I do?? Since I “lost” her, I have been in contact with some childhood friends, and even though living in different parts of the country, wonderful to re-cnnect with them and share our similar memories, yet,divergent lives…. but, that 40 year friendship, ashes… and I don’t know why….
@GNAT – what if she felt guilty about something and wanted to distance herself from you? Or wanted to begin the process of separation because of your tragic news??
I pushed away a very close friend of mine because of a mistake I made and thought I didn’t deserve her. It’s a self loathing/depression thing.
Also, after losing so many close people in my life due to death or fall outs…one gets weary about getting too attached because the loss is devastating. With your cancer news, it probably was a somber reminder. Idk – things are not always what they seem so who knows how that news truly affected her.
This is only even vaguely interesting if taylor and karlie are dating. Actually, no, then it just becomes another variant of the Kanye Kardahsian cover.
…yeah this is really appealing to Taylor’s All American Stars and Stripes Forevah! audience but I’m bored to tears.
Sheesh. It seems bizarre to have a theme of ‘girls road trip’ on an adult magazine and simply place two women there for no other reason than they’re friends. Either have just Taylor or just Karlie, but both of them is just…cloying.
I didn’t realize until now how much Karlie Kloss looks like Kirsten Dunst.
This hits on a peeve of mine: grown women who think that every thing they do is cute. You’re adults.
The cover makes it look like Swift is taking on Kloss’ look (kind of like how Brad Pitt starts looking like whomever he’s dating).
I guess that either her advisors put a foot down to become selective with men or there are…hm…no men right now ready to connect their name with Taylor and she’s trying to rewrite her story.
There are still selebs. who manage to date unnoticed, marry unnoticed ,get pregnant and carry to term unnoticed so I don’t buy her crocodile tears about”I was really irritated by the whole serial-dater play that people tried to make about me. I just decided I wasn’t willing to provide them that kind of entertainment anymore. “
Why is she complaining about people analyzing body language on dates she and her PR team set-up in the first place, for that exact reason?! That’s the main reason why she set these dates up and made sure they were pap’d, to get people talking, to keep her in the news, to widen her fan base. Don’t come out with obvious videos with an obvious song title like, “Style”, if you don’t want people talking about you and analyzing your body language when you’re on your staged date.
It’s part of her strategy, I think. That way she gets the benefits from the PR set-up while being thought of as the innocent girl who’s being victimized by the mean, no-good paps.
VOGUE?! I seriously thought this was a cover of a Seventeen magazine!
Didn’t George Clooney once sum it up best — celebrities get frozen, and seldom fail to mature, past the point in time they became famous?
Blech, that video is choreographed, simulated twee. It’s “Sisterhood of the Traveling Sycophants”.
I just lost a tooth.
Might need a diabetes test too.
Already have it from her past (manipulations) shenanigans.
Lol!
I actually kinda think she’s dating this chick. Isn’t there supposedly a pic of them making out or something?
Yes. There was a pic of them in a club looking chummy but not kissing. It makes me wonder how long ago this shoot and interview were done because the pap shots full stopped after those photos were released.
I always cringe when I see grown women displaying professional photos posed with their besties. I would never pay money for Vogue. I am their demographic, but I think Anna Wintour is a Republican male’s wet dream. Subservient to the insecurities of rich white men and knows how to make the money without making waves in the man pool. Taylor seems like that too. They are both shilling a lifestyle and an ideal that isn’t very substantial imo.
Agreed!
Oh, good. A bunch of rich white girls hanging out together and acting like sixth graders. So cute.
It seems TS is going through something girls usually experience in their late teens.
Better late than never, I guess.
Somehow just seems so … juvenile?
T. Swift is the Paris Hilton of this generation.
They look in love. I much prefer Karlie’s hair shorter, like the shaggy bob she used to wear.
Swifty looks more like a model than Karlie…they are both cute, but Swifty wins IMO 😉
I doubt they are as close friends as they portray. How is it possible that Taylor Swift who is a songwriter and musician at the very core of her identity (at least used to be) has never played guitar in Karlie’s presence before? I just don’t buy it. I think they both use their “friendship” to advance their image and aren’t actually all that tight.