The 'Lost' Midnights Aesthetic & Big Taylor
When Taylor Swift announced her surprise album Midnights to the world, she was quite literally covered in glittering jewels.
But when the promotional materials for Midnights were posted that night, everyone was really surprised by the aesthetic it seemed to have. No one could guess a genre. We thought it would be gut wrenching and 70s inspired, based on the photos and the blurb about her 13 sleepless nights.
We were fully prepared for our hearts to be ripped out of our chests, and hear a Taylor that was so incredibly raw and tragic. Gaylors specifically ere intrigued by the line
“We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t - right this minute - about to make some fateful life-altering mistake”
We wondered if she was about to blatantly tell the world what we had seen for years.
But when the album came out, people were shocked for a more synth, upbeat pop album. When she went to events she was star studded (literally) and glammed out. Or “bejeweled” you could say.
At first, people were surprised by the switch up. Where was the brooding darkness? Where was the 70s ballads? We tried to understand why these two sides didn’t seem to match up. As if the aesthetic of the promotion and the album itself were disconnected.
In comes the anti hero music video.
Suddenly, we see the two aesthetics side by side. Telling us that these two Taylors exist simultaneously.
This music video happens to also be where we are introduced to big Taylor. While she’s dressed a lot like the 70s version of Taylor above, but we know they are not the same Taylor because the video shows us so.
Big Taylor is the elephant in the room. She’s the one that makes Taylor too big to hang out…some think it’s because she’s “too famous” but I argue it is more about how she feels about herself. About how she feels like she is too big… takes up too much space.. too loud and too awkward. Something that she had to actively suppress about herself to get people to like her.
So why does big Taylor break my heart?? So many reasons!
The tour visuals truly show what big Taylor represents… it’s her. The real her. Not the sparkly Taylor that’s on stage, but the one who is so frustrated and over it and wants to tear down the city.
In the visual (which is played during Anti-Hero), big Taylor stands up and starts screaming and stomping her feet.
She’s massive and in any other situation, she would be the focus of the crowd… but she’s not… small glittery Taylor is. Even in TikTok videos, you can see the camera pan away from big Taylor.
Sparkly Taylor is the persona. We refer to her at Taylor™. She is the one performing I Can Do it With a Broken Heart. She’s the one who exists to survive in this profession.
And even when she shows us more of her… the duller, neutral, scared, sad her… all anyone cares about is the guitar smashing sparkles.
To the point where now, the sparkles and bejeweled Taylor is what everyone sees midnights as…
In fact, I think that everyone was so distracted by the sparkles, they forgot the prompt behind the album… Her 13 sleepless nights. There are meanings to these songs that are not immediately obvious. But everyone just wants the sparkles.
Did you forget about this Midnights Aesthetic? Let me know your thoughts!
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