Taylor Swift brings out her pastel fairy-queen drag for the Time 100 gala

Guest arrivals at the 2019 Time 100 Gala

As we discussed previously, Taylor Swift’s 2019 aesthetic is… very pastel. The Reputation-era styling was “gritty” (gritty for Taylor) but she’s gone back to sorbet colors for whatever she’s launching on Friday. I keep assuming it’s new music, but it could very well be a fashion line or BOTH. Anyway, Taylor decided to attend the Time 100 gala last night. Taylor is on the Time 100 list, and she even got one of the covers, because the old-dude editors of Time Magazine think Taylor is the most important person in music. Agree or disagree?

So Taylor attended the gala looking like… this. It makes me miss the era where she was trying to look like a Victoria’s Secret model, honestly. I would even take her preppy-Kennedy-era over this fairy-queen mess. I mean, I’ll be nice – her makeup looks great. The styling is on point and she obviously thought a lot about how she’s presenting herself with this makeover. Everything is coherent and it’s a full-formed LOOK. That being said, this dress is THE WORST. Taylor even wanted us to see the back of it:

Lord, that extra fabric roll in the back is so unflattering. The whole puffy sleeve thing is bad too. But congrats, Snake Fam, you guys have to pretend to think this is the most epic fashion moment of the year from now on.

Guest arrivals at the 2019 Time 100 Gala

Guest arrivals at the 2019 Time 100 Gala

Guest arrivals at the 2019 Time 100 Gala

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

76 Responses to “Taylor Swift brings out her pastel fairy-queen drag for the Time 100 gala”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Chica71 says:

    Perhaps more saturated colors would have worked. Looks like crepe paper or baby shower decorations for some reason.

    • Snazzy says:

      yes, it really does look like crepe paper or something strange. What a ridiculous dress. Shows that money can’t buy good taste or a fashion sense

    • ToMorrowIsTooLate says:

      You nailed the fabric description! I think if the ruffle thing was removed and if it had been knee lenght, the dress would had looked kinda springy cute.

    • (THE OG)@Jan90067 says:

      W/out the sleeves (and that horrendous back roll), it would’ve been an ok column dress. Her makeup, hair, etc is beautiful; she looks like she’s lost some weight, too.

    • velourazure says:

      Cotton candy barf-ness

      • SJR says:

        Perfect! And correct.
        The sleeves and large fabric roll on back are Ugly.

        If it had been shorter, sleeveless, spaghetti strap…better.
        The colors are Easter pastels, I think but badly done, IMO.

  2. Becks1 says:

    Well, like you said, her hair and makeup are on point for this dress, so that is something. The dress itself though is….not good.

    • Erinn says:

      Her makeup is amazing here. Her styling is one of her better looks – shame about the dress. Swapping the yellow out for something else would probably have helped.

      • JanetDR says:

        Yes, that yellow is not good with that shade of pink! And there is nothing goid to say about the sleeves or the back. I love her makeup but can’t help thinking that Taylor looks like a generic Hilton sister.

  3. Seraphina says:

    Those sleeves are really throwing me off. And the back looks terrible. I like her hair and makeup. And the dress is t bad except for those God awful sleeves.

    • Lama Bean says:

      Thing is, the sleeves/puffy back isn’t even part of the original dress. It’s like a bad add-on jacket.

  4. Eliza says:

    I like it … hiding now.

    It’s a dress with a bolero on top, the volume comes from the jacket and makes it less boring. If you saw the original dress, it’s just ok.

    • Alissa says:

      I think that it looks pretty in the Instagram photo because it has the dreamy quality, but I don’t think it worked as the gala dress at all and it looks terrible in the normal photos. I do like that she’s committing to a very clear aesthetic because I think part of the problem with reputation was she couldn’t really figure out what direction she was going in, and it showed in her clothes and her record.

      and I really, really, really hope that this isn’t a clothing line.

  5. JadedBrit says:

    Like a stick of Brighton rock.

  6. Scal says:

    She looks like the peaches and cream Barbie from the 80s. Which I loved as a kid-not so much on a adult in 2019.

    • Seraphina says:

      @SCAL, I googled the Barbie you mentioned and you are right!!!! I can’t unsee it 🤦🏻‍♀️

    • Pixelated says:

      Lol @SCAL you win the internet today

    • deezee says:

      Hahaha
      I had that Barbie and now I know why the look is familiar.

    • Reece says:

      I had to look that up because I wasn’t into Barbie as a kid.

      OMG

    • Bananas says:

      Hahaha, Peaches and Cream Barbie is what I’ve been calling her TS7 aesthetic all along! What solidified it was her ‘worst of the eighties / mullet head / peach fluffy dress’ pic in the Time 100 article last week, but now even more.

    • ClaireB says:

      I had that Barbie too! That stupid boa thing didn’t stay on so I never played with it, but it stuck on all her other clothes and always ended up on the floor when I played dolls. I’d forgotten about that stupid thing getting everywhere! Now that I’m an adult, I realize I could have just thrown it away, but that did not compute to 7-year-old me.

  7. Vexa says:

    Some of the instagrams she’s posted, along with this dress, have made me really nervous she’s going to launch a clothing line bc clearly the clothes are going to be hideous…

    I actually wouldn’t hate the dress if the colours were different; say if it was white and being worn by someone like Lupita or Danai Gurira. The twee princess thing and the pastels and the little headband and Taylor’s whole vibe… it’s just too much all together

  8. xdanix says:

    I think I’ve got to disagree with you there, Kaiser. I actually LOVE that princess-y, “love story” type Taylor seems to be making a comeback. I’m really hoping it’s reflected in her music too, since I think that’s where her voice sounds the best. If you look up videos of her performing last night listen to the opening verse of Style where she’s just standing and singing and playing simply on a guitar, her voice sounds SO much better than when she’s trying to push it to areas it’s not really strong enough to go.

    As for last night’s look… LOVED her head. Don’t love the dress as much, but on reflection don’t hate it like I thought I did upon first seeing it. It’s fine to me, it’s pretty enough, and it looked a LOT better later when she removed the sleeves to perform.

    • Sojaschnitzel says:

      I am so here for pastel colours, and even more so for opals and flowers in her hair and if she goes for the cute fairy route, then I will be very much here for that aswell. I don’t like her music but I enjoy looking at her and I am embarassed to say that I am curious about friday. As a 40+ woman with no interest in mainstream music.

    • ashGOLIGHTLYNahLOL says:

      yea i like country or pop-lite (VERY LIGHT) Taylor….i was waiting for this to come back

      I remember being in college in the mid aughts and hoping that one of my gfs would go to a concert of her’s with me…they were like GIRLLLLLLLL YOU’RE GONNA BE THE ONLY BLACK GIRL THERE lolol at the time they may have been right lol

  9. Lexilla says:

    Pastel fairy-queen drag. HAHAHA. This whole pastel sparkle “I’m in lurrrrve” schtick feels so forced and manufactured. How can her fans not see that? But maybe someone would have said that to 10-year-old me about Madonna. 🤷🏻‍♀️

    • rose says:

      I’m a huge fan but I can see how calculated her new look is . It’s something ever pop star does though isn’t it ? Create a persona ?

  10. SM says:

    I think her influence is mainly over teenage girls in the high school drama phrase of their lives. Not in music itself as it would be insulting to artists actually making music

    • Alissa says:

      That seems unfair. she’s a fairly talented songwriter who has written a lot of hits, plays guitar, and plays piano. I also know a lot of women in their 20s and 30s who like listening to her, myself included. I don’t think she’s an amazing, genius level artist or anything, but she’s definitely talented and I don’t think that’s insulting to music. her voice is not as strong as she likes to think though.

    • Oh-Dear says:

      I think her influence is on the music business model. She has challenged music/creative ownership of an artist’s body of work and pay structures for artists in her last 2 contracts, which is significant for all musicians.

  11. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    The front is Tay now. The back is in 20 years post breastfeeding her den of snake offspring.

  12. OriginalLala says:

    she is going back to her teen Taylor princess look…I wonder what this will mean for her music because during her OG teen princess phase her music was..fairly teeny… and I can’t see that translating well for a woman about to hit 30

    • Emily says:

      My thoughts exactly. I still like Red and 1989. I listened to her older music in university but never do now because I’ve outgrown it. If she goes back to her old sound, I’ll be disappointed.

  13. Feebee says:

    There’s no excuse for this. None.

  14. Lolly says:

    I always try to imitate the open mouth look Taylor does-where all her front teeth are showing but she’s not actually smiling-when reading about her. I don’t know how she does it, I guess because her veneers are too big for her mouth it might be easier for her. Can’t ever close her mouth.

    • LC says:

      I scrolled back up to check and you are so right!

    • jammypants says:

      I know. It’s all I see. Look back the last few posts on her. Every single one is open mouthed. I’m starting to think she just can’t actually close it.

    • Call_me_al says:

      Her teeth have always been the most annoying thing about her to me as well. Close your mouth!

  15. virginfangirls says:

    She pulls out every stop to sell her music. Always a new look, often drastically different from the one before, always hints about what the album will be about, when it will be released, and of course hints in the songs about who she’s trashing, & even hints in her videos. But perhaps all this will wear thin this time. Her fan base is most likely aging with her, and mature women simply want good music & her attempts to get people interested are so juvenile. And this fairy error is too juvenile, for me anyway.

  16. Texas says:

    I like it. I think it is really pretty.

  17. Nev says:

    So manufactured.

    • Oh-Dear says:

      I think that is the point though? It isn’t unusual for the packaging of female pop artists to include their presentation and aesthetic for their different musical eras – Madonna, Cher, Katy Perry, Christina, Beyonce.

  18. Emily says:

    Her 1989 era styling was the best. It was adult and modern. It looks like she’s going back to the Love Story era, which, I hope doesn’t mean her music is going back there too as she’s 30 years old.

    • Alissa says:

      I agree, if she’d done a clothing line based on that aesthetic I probably would have bought stuff!

  19. lucy2 says:

    Makeup is great, dress is a nightmare.

  20. Chisey says:

    Haha I guess I have bad taste because I’m into this. I love the sleeves, I feel my inner Anne of Green Gables coming out like 🤩 puffed sleeves!!! 😍. I could never in a million years wear this, but I really enjoy these photos. I far prefer it to the Reputation faux punk thing.

  21. Case says:

    I think she looks super beautiful, actually. Maybe that pink/bright yellow color combo wouldn’t be my first choice (a lilac or different shade of pink would’ve been much prettier than the yellow), but it’s a lovely dress and her hair/makeup looks great. She looks like herself again, instead of the faux-emo Taylor. Looking like herself is a good look.

    • jammypants says:

      Yea she looks quite pretty. I don’t have issues with the dress. I don’t like the princess-y tiara though. Felt like overkill.

  22. Lisa says:

    Makeup is beautiful. Dress is not my cup of tea.

  23. wolfgirl says:

    A pastel Pegasus unicorn had lipo and deflated on her?

  24. rose says:

    Aw why y’all gonna be so mean ? Her hair and makeup look stunning. I like the dress aside from the poofy sleeves which kinda throw the look off I’ll admit . I adore Taylor and think she’s lovely but I get why she’d annoy people with this overly twee look seeing as her Reputation era was all dark .

  25. DS9 says:

    Forever 21 should sue her for infringement

  26. Lightpurple says:

    Channeling Joan Rivers reacting to women wearing flowers anywhere but a high school prom.

  27. Desolee says:

    She looks fine except for her teeth but what can she really do about them now. The dress I find really pretty and nicely done . I don’t like all pastels on everyone but yellow and pink together on her I really love…. but I think I’d wear it without the puffy thing because it would annoy me.
    Dont understand the use of “drag ” here. It sounds like a slur. But is it actually a synonym we can use like cosplay? Only on conventionally attractive/feminine/cis/straight women? (Asking out of curiosity)

  28. elimaeby says:

    Snarky comment: that dress is f’king ridiculous and fugly.

    Nice comment: I am loving the toned down pastel makeup and softer hair she’s been rocking lately. It really suits her.

  29. Barbara says:

    I can’t get past the ever changing tits.

    • Alissa says:

      I will be honest, everyone is certain that this is a boob job but my boobs fluctuate constantly, despite my weight staying relatively the same. I have bras ranging from a B cup to a D cup because they change a LOT. they also grew from barely a B to a D rapidly when I was 17 and my mom called it Britney Spears syndrome and was like “maybe she didn’t get breast implants, maybe they just grew!”

  30. Yes Doubtful says:

    It would be a pretty dress if it weren’t for the sleeves.

  31. yellow says:

    I like it, but I’ve long had a thing for “ugly” 70’s kinda dresses. It needs more contrast though; would be best on someone with dark/black hair, or for a blonde, perhaps more tan…(I’d pick a different color combo for her) and probably more fitting for someone under 21 for the sweetness/cutesy factor it has. Not being mean – I think she looks great in general.

  32. Dee says:

    She looks gorgeous here — her face and hair is ethereal.

  33. Daisy says:

    I think my main problem with her “eras” is that she wants everyone to believe she’s so honest, so real but everything still feels so calculated. It’s like her tastes change depending on how she wants the aesthetic to be lmao
    And since she’s apparently back to the beautiful gowns look, hopefully her music will be like that again. Her lyrics used to be so much better, hopefully Reputation was just a blip.

  34. BANANIE says:

    Why is she wearing Renaissance Faire dresses inspired by Trix yogurt?? This is over the top – and I’m actually unafraid to say I like Taylor.

  35. Mrs. Peel says:

    She’s pale and bland, so pastels do her no favors.

  36. missskitttin says:

    No, the new generation of teens don’t know her music. And the old teens are into other genres by now. She s going to have to work hard! But yeah she s not the top in music now. It would be more like Arianas or Beyonce. More relevant.

  37. Amelie says:

    If she isn’t launching new music, my guess is a makeup line. All the cool celebs are doing it. She’s seen Rihanna be super successful with Fenty Beauty. And Taylor’s fans will eat that stuff up, whatever makeup line she comes out with, even if it’s terrible, will do really well (at first anyways). I could see her doing that to troll the Kardashians and their makeup lines. That’s my theory.

  38. ashGOLIGHTLYNahLOL says:

    One iteration that I was hoping she would do was folksy – faux jonie mitchell / faith hill phase….like dial down the fake privacy, do a city of real good folksy (june carter stevie nicks type) date an indie british band slightly older dude and lay lowkey and get engaged or baby with an iron clad prenup for that dough girllll.

    she has the song writing and guitar chops and british dude pref for it….but she LOVES the limelight….she like STUNTS and antics…and its just tiring you know

    like girl you are already worth prob liquid $300M plus you dont need to do the schtick…youve been in the game like over 12 years you got it the accolades, awards, tour stuff….please dial down the stunting this time….i feel like she’s building up something that may fail (her relationship) and blind item cds

    but maybe she’s already engaged and planning a late reveal and then marriage during touring or something to the tune of that.

  39. Kiera says:

    She looks like Padme on Naboo in Attack of the Clones. Please everyone go google that dress.

  40. phlyfiremama says:

    I love the dress~I think she looks AMAZING. It fits her persona.

  41. Karen2 says:

    I think the ‘sleeves’ may actually be a shrug. I’m always amazed that top showbiz ppl show up for this type of event. I mean. Who reads the digital only Time nowadays. It seems only one step away from the recently defunct Ebony.

  42. Betsy says:

    It IS an epic dress. Just not epically good or pretty. Yikes to the whole thing.

  43. Shannon says:

    I like Taylor Swift, but I don’t understand her placement on the list. She didn’t do all that much last year, so that just seems so random. Anyway, here, I like the dress just fine, but those sleeves are just too much. I didn’t look at the back. But if she lost those awful sleeves, I’d be okay with this. I’m not much into pastels myself, but I can see that working for her.