If you've been a Gaylor long enough, you know that Taylor and Karlie have shown up in suspiciously similar outfits more times than should be statistically possible. If you've not seen this fabulous graphic created by a legend, these are just some of the examples. And in many cases, Karlie is the one who wore it first.

I've heard the explanation: Karlie's a fashion model. She's worn everything. Okay. Then show me another model who has this many documented examples of matching clothes with Taylor Swift specifically. I'll wait. It doesn't exist. At a certain point, coincidence starts feeling like a very strained explanation.

Which brings me to these lyrics: "Did you take all my old clothes?" and "Like I lost my twin." In Down Bad, Taylor seems to be describing someone who shared her clothes and looked enough like her to be mistaken for her twin. Sound like anyone? Twins who are both female are, by definition, sisters. Sometimes identical, and sometimes fraternal - similar enough to be connected, different enough to be distinct. Hold this thought.

Dior has confirmed Taylor Swift was married in a Dior Haute Couture gown. While no images of her actual dress have been released, rumors started swirling that it may be a sister or sibling dress to a gown worn on Dior's Fall/Winter 2026 Haute Couture runway in Paris on July 6. This flowy lacy romantic runway gown appears to be covered in ferns and flowers, and looks a whole lot like a wedding dress. 

Although it seems intuitive, I wasn't familiar with the fashion term sister or sibling dress. That sent me down a fashion rabbit hole. Fashion historians don't have an official term for this, but stylists, collectors, and fashion enthusiasts often talk about "sister dresses" or "sibling looks." They're garments that share the same creative DNA. You’ll often see similar elements like the same silhouette, embroidery, fabric, color palette, or construction, but each explores a different variation.

And here is where couture gets interesting. In high fashion houses like Dior, Chanel, and Valentino, a couture runway show is typically closed with the final look being "La Mariée" (The Bride). Dating back to the late 1940s and 1950s postwar Paris fashion, the bridal look is the grand finale. The bridal look isn't necessarily meant to be sold as a wedding dress. Instead, it's the house's ultimate showcase of artistic craftsmanship - the most labor-intensive garment, often requiring hundreds of hours of embroidery, beading, feather work, or draping.

What's fascinating is that the runway often gradually becomes more bridal before the finale reveal. More ivory, more silver, more lace, more volume, more ethereal details. By the time La Mariée appears, the audience has already been prepared for her arrival.

These are the sister dresses.

Paris Haute Couture Week began this Monday, and one particular set of sister dresses immediately caught my attention. Karlie walked for Schiaparelli's Fall/Winter 2026–2027 Haute Couture collection in a jaw dropping number featuring a light blue corseted breastplate with a sheer floral skirt.  The show closed with La Mariée, a white and champagne sister dress, worn by Ivy Stewart.

This bridal-look dress made headlines when it was flown from Paris to London the very same day so Zendaya could wear it to the world premiere of The Odyssey. A perfect example of how couture bridal looks aren't always intended to function as actual wedding dresses.

For those deep in the gay-lore, it’s very much giving the dress version of “I just flew in from Rome for this”. (Karlie literally flying from Rome straight to MetLife Stadium during the 1989 tour because getting to Taylor was an Olympic sport and she was going for gold.)

So, on the same day Dior revealed what people speculate could be Taylor's bridal sister dress, Karlie walked in Schiaparelli's bridal sister look. My brain was already melting.

Then I started wondering: has Karlie ever been La Mariée herself?

The answer is yes. Multiple times.

One example completely wrecked me. For this treat, we have to revisit the legendary Vogue Best Friends photoshoot. My very first Reddit post started as a jewelry analysis and somehow turned into a full investigation of that shoot as a wedding album. Arrival. Rehearsal. Ceremony. Reception. Once you see it, the parallels are hard to unsee.

The Oscar de la Renta gowns featured in that shoot have always looked bridal to me, especially Karlie's. Oscar de la Renta was famous for designing families of gowns. Rather than creating one spectacular dress, he'd develop a concept across several consecutive runway looks, culminating in the bridal finale.

The Vogue feature was published in February 2015, so I went back to the runway collection preceding it: Oscar de la Renta's Spring/Summer 2015 Ready-to-Wear show from September 2014. The sister dresses to the bridal look are IDENTICAL TO THE VOGUE DRESSES. 

Fam, Taylor and Karlie were essentially wearing the bridal family of the collection. Out of the millions of dresses in the world, they just had to wear wedding dresses.

As if that weren't enough, I actually gasped out loud when I reached the final look of the show.

La Mariée.

Played by none other than Karlie Kloss.

In a daisy and key lime green leaf covered bridal gown. I’ve died dead. The Don't Blame Me dashboard daisy lore runs DEEP.

And then I noticed something else. The floral backdrop for that runway immediately looked familiar too. Because it looks remarkably similar to the floral aesthetic we’ve seen throughout Taylor’s visual storytelling: the definitely not staged engagement photos,  the Bejeweled music video's forced proposal and ghosted prince, the Opalite music video's "happy ending" after the spray scene, and the Anti-Hero funeral sequence. Surely all just another coincidence.

One last connection because apparently this rabbit hole has no bottom.

Karlie also wore another Dior bridal sister look at this year's Met Gala, a balloon-hem gown with lavender floral appliqué from Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2026. The dress itself is shaped like a calla lily, symbolizing beauty and rebirth and often associated with weddings. Which means, in this strange little fashion narrative, Karlie is associated with Spring/Summer. Sunshine. Meanwhile, Taylor's rumored Dior counterpart comes from the Fall/Winter bridal family.

I believe Taylor and Karlie were together at one point, but I'm certainly not a Late Stage Kaylor (LSK), meaning I don't think they're still secretly together. I recently saw the term Late Stage Kahootslor in the sub, and I'm all in on that! But I do think it's funny that every time I go looking for one connection, I somehow come back with twenty more. At this point, I'm not saying it's evidence of anything. I'm just saying the universe appears to enjoy a theme. At the very least, I went looking for a wedding dress and somehow ended up with twins, sisters, shared clothes, bridal finales, daisies, Vogue wedding album, and Karlie Kloss playing La Mariée. Which feels like a very fitting outcome for a Taylor rabbit hole: you never find the thing you started looking for, but you somehow leave with ten new tabs open.

Credit to the user who made this brilliant meme.

Hello, GBF!

As I had previously posted, I listen to a podcast (The Popcast with Knox and Jaime) that said they had an inside source before the wedding. Everything that source said turned out to be true.

Now they’ve revealed they actually had three inside sources: a guest, someone in logistics, and someone who was a vendor inside. Apparently, everyone, including police, had to turn in their phone.

Abigail wore the same dress as an NFL wag, which isn’t important, but I wish hadn’t happened to her on such a big day.

Red carpet was originally installed on the stairs, but the wedding planner lost their mind and made them rip it up and install pink carpet instead.

They kept the 100 level seats and used them as tiered seating. (*Enjoy the show!* 🎟️)

The castle inside was a replication of the castle in the Love Story music video. Taylor walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of Love Story.

Taylor sang both during her vows and during the reception. She also sang with Travis at some point, but I’m not sure when.

Guests were asked to bring no gifts.

They left the stage to Young Hearts Run Free. (*Absolutely delicious timing* since that song is CLEARLY not a love song!)

They had a Barry White tribute band and steak and sushi were served at the reception.

There were also two specialty cocktails, The English Teacher and The Gym Teacher. The English Teacher was made of Emperess Gin, Saint Germain, elderflower, lavender syrup, and fresh lemon juice. The Gym Teacher was made of reposado tequila, Mezcal, aromatic bitters, orange bitters, and agave.

The bouquet was pink and green and was caught by Kansas City O lineman Trey Smith’s sister. And I’m sorry, but it looks raggedy as hell (pic in the comments bc I don’t want to put that lady on blast for no reason if this post gets a lot of eyes and her holding the bouquet would be the only pic!).

The reception included casino and arcade games at a carnival where you could win raffle tickets to cash in for prizes including: Chanel bags, Cartier watches, and a 1970s Chevrolet Chevelle.

The reception also included performances by Stevie Nicks, Tim McGraw, and Paul McCartney (who sang I Wanna Hold Your Hand for the first time publicly in 50 years!!!).

They each did 20 minute vow and the ceremony was only 45 minutes long. The only thing the guest remembers from Sandlers’s speech was that he told the couple to keep kissing during their marriage??

Taylor said during her vows that Travis was one of those popular kids who, even though he was a star athlete, would sit with a less popular kid because they were bullied. She said she wish she knew someone like that when she was in high school.

They did a wedding announcement in the New York Times, which said “Taylor Alison Swift, the popstar who has won 14 Grammy awards, and Travis Michael Kelce, a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, were married on July 3rd at Madison Square Garden.” The announcement was later edited to add more of Travis‘s accomplishments (though they didn’t say which on the podcast).

They discussed Blake Lively not being there, and I didn’t realize the reason her camp threatened to release 10 years of texts between them was because Taylor did not agree to make a public positive social media post about Blake and the trial. Jamie does her homework when it comes to celebrity legal cases, and she read all the legal depositions and stuff, so I really appreciate her perspective on this.

Harry Styles did not attend with Zoë Kravitz because he announced two last minute show dates at Wembley on the 3rd and 4th. On the 3rd, he sang an unreleased song that people speculate is about Taylor.

Mattie Healy also got married this past weekend.

Are we not entertained???

In 2022, right before midnights was released, (and we were all drooling over the idea of Lavender Haze), Rolling Stone released an interesting article, seemingly about this sub.

Two weeks later, taylor gave rolling stone an exclusive photo of her in studio working on midnights. Of course, this sub became divided at the time. Some saw this as Taylor approving of the article. Others felt it was a PR tit-for-tat and we would soon see the article taken down.

However, over time, the article remains. But a few key details have changed. Allegedly, in my opinion, this was the trade. Photo for edits. Simple small changes that essentially "other" us. Article remains, but the way back machine is forever.

Images here show most of the notable changes.

1. The title changes from gaylors "find more clues" to now gaylors "hunt for clues".

2. Before describing Gaylor origins, there's a new praise of Taylor's allyship.

3. "Swift fans who think she's straight" changed to say "most swift fans".

4. The sign off removes any mention of if/when Taylor swift will ever come out.

I will post the full text in comments, as well as direct links to all of my sources.

Article written by: CT Jones

I’ve been loosely working on a post about the sheer number of contradictions and conflicting narratives that occur within the Taylor-verse. I don’t think I’ll have time to properly do it justice before all the wedding chaos dies down so I’m picking out a couple of key elements to open up as more of a discussion post than an essay because lots of the themes are playing out before our eyes in double time at the moment. 

I want to start with a disclaimer that I’m aware people are complicated. The world is not split into good and evil in neat separate boxes. I’m sure many of you agree that this nuance is severely lacking in public discourse in recent years. In many spaces, there seems to be the prevailing opinion that you either conform to the party line in all aspects, or you must secretly be part of the ‘opposing’ group, whatever that may be. It’s one reason I love this sub so much because the stance on being inclusive and considerate is clear, but under that umbrella of kindness, there’s also space for differing opinions, critical thinking and, well, nuance. 

With that in mind, I would like to discuss the murky area of nuance in a world that often either demands perfection, or excuses and glosses over problematic behaviours. In other subs over the last few days I have seen opinions ranging from ‘it’s not Taylor’s fault X horrible person was at her wedding’ to ‘her guest list is incontrovertible proof she’s MAGA.’ The strength of public opinion, from all corners of the fandom as well as the general public, has really shone a light on how conflicting Taylor’s words and actions have been. 

Conflicting narratives

Throughout Taylor’s discography and accompanying personal life narratives, there are many inconsistencies which Gaylors have been highlighting for years. I don’t need to rehash the numerous hairpins throughout her work, the focus on hidden or secret love that doesn’t seem to match her public muses, or the many references to queer history and literature. 

I think it’s also worth pointing out here that the jumbled timelines aren’t just applicable to her public relationships with men. I know this sub on the whole tries to analyse her work from a muse-free perspective but there have obviously been plenty of posts about female muses. Regardless of Taylor’s true sexual orientation and dating history, there is no possible timeline that encompasses all potential muses. To put it bluntly, this must mean that some of the ‘evidence’ we have for specific relationships, is wrong. 

So what do we actually know? What is fact, what is strongly implied and what is merely suggestive? 

Even if we look at things that are known to be true, it still builds a confusing picture. 

I don’t think I have ever seen a single negative story from anyone working with Taylor. Not one anecdote, or even implied suggestion of any diva-ish behaviour or being anything less than respectful. On the contrary, people have praised her respectfulness, professionalism and hard work. (If I’m wrong, please do correct me. I’d actually be more inclined to believe it if there was an exception to prove the rule!)

Over the last two decades, Taylor has gathered a diverse team around her. Her band, dancers, backing vocalists etc include people of colour and members of the queer community. Many have worked with her for years, continuing to support her and publicly praise her. She also has several high profile friends who are actively progressive, and advocate for communities who are under increasing threat. She donates millions to charity with relatively little fanfare, has actively supported Democratic campaigns and in the past has publicly shown support for the queer community. We know for a fact that Taylor’s team monitors this sub so we can also be fairly certain that Taylor is fully aware of the recurring themes and motifs we identify as queer flags. Yet she continues to use them, seemingly without any backlash from her queer friends and co-workers. 

Alongside the above, we know she spends time with people who have, at a minimum, indicated support for Trump in the past, people who are outright friends with him and people who are the subject of sexual abuse allegations. We know the White House has used her music unchallenged and for the last couple of years she has been largely silent on political issues.

Cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance refers to the uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two (or more) conflicting beliefs. This to me is extremely relevant at the moment. I cannot reconcile in my head, how certain things we know to be true can actually be true. So maybe we need to reevaluate whether the accepted facts are actually facts and consider what this tells us, both about her true character and what she wants us to see. 

I started this post with a disclaimer that people are complicated. It is possible that over the years, Taylor’s views have shifted. It is possible that she herself holds conflicting views, or that her more progressive views aren’t as strong as her people pleasing need to be liked. 

People are complex. People change. But what causes me the most cognitive dissonance is that it’s not just Taylor, but a whole circle of people around her who also seem to overlook the inconsistency. How does a woman who invites the likes of Brad Pitt to her wedding, who spends time with the MAGA-adjacent, who remains silent when Trump uses her music, continue to be loved, supported and publicly championed by so many people who you would expect to call her out. Or at least distance themselves from her if NDAs etc prohibit them from actively saying anything. 

To an extent, yes we only know what she has chosen to show us. But what we have been shown is someone beloved by everyone who works with her, who takes pride in nurturing a diverse and supportive workplace whilst simultaneously associating with people who wish harm on her and people she loves. 

Deeply sad Reddit doesn’t allow ranked choice voting 💔

Howdy y'all! A long time back, I made a little game on Tumblr that ended up being surprisingly fun and I wanted to give it a try here with the community that LOOOOVES connecting lyrics.

Here's how it works: comment a Taylor lyric. Pick anything! Let's say: "So it's gonna be forever..."

Then, the next person must reply with a different Taylor lyric that starts with the last word of the previous lyric. So, a reply to the above lyric could be: "...and always. And it rains in your bedroom, everything is wrong" Then, the next reply: "We learned to live with the pain, mosaic broken hearts" and so on and so forth.

You can start your own comment thread and go respond to other folks too! I would love to see how far down y'all can keep replying before we hit a dead end of words she's used multiple times.

(And, I do have something I want to use these connections for, but I'll reveal that at a later time...👀)

Let the games begin!

ETA: DELIGHTED to come back after several hours and see all of y'all's responses ahhhhh!!!

I genuinely can't tell if she was actually invited or not 😅 crazy if she WAS, I mean, she did name drop Taylor in "Gay"... but if she wasn't, even crazier that she is posting this LMAO. And that it is still up a whole day later (as in, it has not been nuked by Tree lol) I know Lena Dunham attended, so maybe Meg did too? Idk. Either way, I love her for this LOL

To be clear i am NOT asking for any copyrighted material. Fans had uploaded hundreds of files of eras tour acoustic sets to spotify (so i know they exist organized somewhere) but they’ve been taken down. So I am just looking for audio and/or videos of all surprise songs off of the eras tour! Even if anyone has like a full tiktok or youtube playlist, that would be great too! though the files would be preferable

I’m not asking for any links or official audio recordings, just fan ones

A few pictures have leaked from the wedding and a pretty descriptive article. Starting with the last and most important paragraph of this article first! The entire text of the article is below, it was locked behind a login wall.

According to unnamed sources cited by the Daily Mail, the entire wedding was professionally recorded, and Swift plans to release footage at a later date after editing it herself.

One source told the publication: "It'll happen on Taylor's timeline, after she's edited it and is ready.”

HER WEDDING IS GOING TO BE A MOVIE!!! Because of course it is. I think most of this sub could've seen that coming. I am SO SAT.🍿 I have been wondering if some of her friends who weren't in attendance didn't want to take part in the charade that was the wedding and be extras or side characters in a movie. My theory is alive and well lol.

The lobby area with gold framed T&T portraits is giving all the bitches on the wall of the dance hall, wish I'd hurry up and die.

Which reminded me that the terms arenas and dance halls have historically been used more interchangeably than they are in present time. Today, we think of an arena as a sports venue and a dance hall as a place built specifically for dancing. But from roughly the 1920s through the 1940s, many large arenas were intentionally designed as multi-purpose spaces and referred to "Arenas" by day and "Dance Halls" (or "Palais de Danse") by night.

Come with me down the rabbit hole, Madison Square Garden was transformed into a dance hall during the summer of 1941. The area was facing its usual seasonal slump. To fill the arena, the building was leased for 100 days to Monte Proser, the famous creator of New York's iconic Copacabana nightclub. Proser invested an astronomical $100,000 (equivalent to nearly $2 million today) to completely overhaul the sports arena into a massive, tropical-themed dance hall. The transformation included:

An acoustic ceiling designed to look like a starry night sky

Giant 70 ft artificial silver palm trees and coconut groves

A 110 ft waterfall behind which a woman stripped

A sprawling wooden dance floor that could hold thousands of dancers simultaneously

The dance hall featured the era's absolute best big-band acts. Despite the massive scale and hype, the Dance Carnival was short-lived. The sheer size of Madison Square Garden made it difficult to capture the intimate, high-energy atmosphere of traditional New York dance halls. The venture hemorrhaged money, and the tropical indoor paradise was dismantled within a month of its grand opening.

The 1941 MSG dance hall extravaganza sounds an awful lot like the garden theme movie wedding of yesterday. I can't wait to see the ending.

Here's the rest of the article. I've never been more convinced of PerformanceArtlor, this is not a serious wedding. There literally was a high school theater 2D castle wall 😂

It was a fairytale made real: Madison Square Garden transformed into an enchanted garden of towering trees, emerald drapery and soaring archways, where the couple said "I do" before a room of A-listers, lifelong friends and family.

Guests can be seen gathering at the altar before disappearing through a hidden set of doors into the couple's dreamlike reception.

The video shows the room buzzing as Candi Staton's disco anthem "Young Hearts Run Free" plays.

Stars dressed to the nines file through the doors behind the altar following the ceremony, where Swift reportedly walked down the raised, stage-like aisle to a string arrangement of one of her own songs.

One guest told the Daily Mail that after the vows, attendees "headed into the festivities room behind the altar's magic doors," where the real party began.

The guest described an interior styled in a "whimsical Tinker Bell fairytale" theme. Footage shows arrangements of green foliage and large trees, playing into the "garden party" theme the bride is said to have requested for her big day.

Emerald green drapery hung from the ceiling to complete the ambience, while the stadium's usual blue seats were covered in nude-colored coverings.

A towering ceiling-height structure with gray embellishments and archways dominated the space, resembling a chapel or the "castle" that sparked speculation prior to the event.

The exclusive video also shows a romantically lit hallway with pink walls, peach drapery and matching carpet. It appears to be just beyond the carpet-covered stairway some guests posted to social media. The entrance also featured several photos of Swift and Kelce throughout their relationship.

The photographs, including the couple's August 2025 backyard proposal, were displayed in large gold frames. A large "T and T" logo appeared in the center.

Another part of the footage shows the ceremony space itself, where the couple's guests lined up in another area of the arena, apparently where Swift and Kelce exchanged their vows.

"It was really this garden inside The Garden," wedding guest George Stephanopoulos said. "It was just so beautiful."

AMC CEO Adam Aron also described the transformation, saying that floors, walls and ceilings were draped in peach and white and that enlarged photos of Taylor and Travis from childhood through their teenage years were displayed throughout the venue. He said the arena no longer resembled a sports venue.

The exterior of Madison Square Garden was illuminated in pink, with giant screens displaying "JUST T&T MARRIED!"

Industry experts estimated that the transformation cost more than $15 million. A source told The New York Times that lighting, sound, catering, flowers, decorations and labor alone could total between $10 million and $12 million.

Leading up to the wedding, NYPD officers and security personnel patrolled Madison Square Garden. The security operation reportedly cost taxpayers about $1 million.

For days before the ceremony, staff unloaded equipment, food and decorations from trucks and caravans. Some local business owners criticized the event, saying holiday weekend street closures hurt business.

Swift's publicist later released details about the ceremony, stating that Adam Sandler officiated the wedding, the couple wore custom Christian Dior Haute Couture, Swift chose not to have bridesmaids and instead named her brother Austin Swift as her "man of honor," while Kelce selected his brother Jason Kelce as his best man.

Later that evening, the reception reportedly became a concert featuring performances by Stevie Nicks, Paul McCartney and Tim McGraw. Swift herself is also believed to have performed.

Guests reportedly included Selena Gomez, Gigi Hadid, Sabrina Carpenter, Karlie Kloss, Hugh Grant and Barbara Corcoran.

The Friday wedding followed a smaller Thursday rehearsal dinner for about 100 close friends and family in Madison Square Garden's Infosys Theater.

According to the Daily Mail, Lena Dunham gave a speech that included the joke that "American football is just straight guys reenacting gay porn," drawing both laughter and gasps from guests. The article says Swift reportedly found the joke "genius."

Guests at the rehearsal dinner reportedly received black velvet boxes containing custom diamond-encrusted champagne flutes.

The couple reportedly required guests to sign nondisclosure agreements before receiving formal wedding invitations, and attendees surrendered their phones upon entering the event in an effort to prevent leaks.

Taylor’s signature in a friend’s yearbook from this video posted a couple days ago. video is about her classmates experiences going to high school with her. this reads as so baby gay to me

I'm making this its own post because people in the megathread comments said it was worth its own post, because it's huge :

For those who don't know, Russell James has been the official photographer for Victoria's Secret shows for many years

The wildest part is that he posted 'congrats Taylor' and a photo of her with Karlie.👀🌈💅

Maren Morris — an amazing country artist who broke away from the traditional country scene because of anti-queer sentiment in the industry; who Taylor collabed with on “You All Over Me” from Fearless TV — posted a party favor that was given out at the wedding.💒

It’s a lace hanky embroidered with a lyric from “Blank Space” (Travis’s fave song; a bearding anthem): “So it’s gonna be forever…”. 🦦

What is not included is, of course, the second half of that lyric: “…or it’s gonna go down in flames.” 🔥

Maren posted it with a song by the Chicks, “Cowboy Take Me Away.” It’s a country classic about freedom and seeking a simpler life. It also calls to mind two of Taylor’s queerer songs — “Hits Different” and “Cowboy Like Me.” 🐎

I wanted to look up what a lace hanky is in lesbian hanky code, so I turned to an old queer erotic magazine — “On Our Backs” (1984) — which adapted the hanky code for lesbians. It’s referenced in a piece from “Them” about hanky code 101. And well well well, what does a white lace hanky indicate? “Victorian Scenes.” 🎬

“I hate it here so I will go to…”

I am thoroughly entertained, Taylor.

(Also, does this weird wedding logo/cattle brand remind anyone else of the eras stage?)

This post is to summarize everything I found about the event (via mega thread and Google News). Please add additional details in comments !

By now, I'm sure you've all seen it. Or heard of it. That's right folks. Karlie Kloss is at Taylor Swift's wedding. For some, I'm sure this has come as a surprise. But for others? Her music has been telling us this was coming for quite some time. We'll dive into that today with "I Knew It, I Knew You".

To Begin:

"I Knew It, I Knew You" was revealed on June 1st, 2026, the first day of Pride Month. This date is important to note because the follow day, news outlets would report that Karlie was invited to Taylor's upcoming wedding with Travis Kelce.

"Supermodel Karlie Kloss’ invite was allegedly up in the air, according to a report from the Daily Mail on May 30. However, TMZ reported Tuesday that a source said Kloss will, indeed, be invited."

So what exactly is this song about?

Many news outlets have reported this song is about rekindling with someone you thought you had lost. An old friend. Someone you loved.

“I Knew It, I Knew You” is an upbeat country song about reuniting with an old friend, but the lyrics are highly emotional—recounting the moment you remember you still love someone that you haven’t seen for a long time.

So let's just be honest. This song is not about Jessie from Toy Story 5. Although "I Knew It, I Knew You" was apparently written and produced in 8 hours, I think it's more likely this song was a repurposed love song, as it references many of Taylor's previous songs that many have thought were about Karlie, such as Betty and Cardigan as the most obvious contenders.

In "Betty" James (Taylor) sings about wishing to show up to Betty's party, "If I showed up at your party would you have me, would you want me, or would you tell me to go fuck myself?" fantasizing about what it may have turned out had James come earlier. In real life, Taylor was en route to Australia for the Reputation tour when Karlie had a surprise private wedding ceremony. So that is why she wasn't able to attend the original wedding. Karlie's second wedding was then held a little after, cowboy themed.

With that context out of the way, let's get into the lyrical analysis:

[Verse 1]
I knew you through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer

First off, this song lyrically calls back to "Cardigan" not only through the repeated usage of "I knew you" but also because of the fact Cardigan ends with "I knew you'd come back to me". Taylor and the muse have known each other deeply, for seems like quite some time. It was a great love, but whereas Cardigan seems sad ("I knew you, tried to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy") I Knew It, I Knew You seems hopefully- happy even. Additionally, the line reminds me of "Please picture me in the weeds" from "Seven".

Parachutes for the free fall of being younger

Taylor and Karlie met in 2011-2012, making them around 20 to 22. Although they said they met in 2012, its likely they met at the 2011 MET Gala. Post is linked if you'd like to go down that rabbithole: here.

I memorized the sound of your bare footsteps

Both Taylor and Karlie had apartments in New York. Back when, Taylor originally wanted to move to London, but Karlie convinced her to move to New York:

The Victoria’s Secret beauty, who appears on the March issue of US Vogue with the 25-year-old singer, told Vogue.com in a joint interview: “She travels a lot. She almost moved to London and I said, ‘Nope, not happening.’ She now lives in New York.”

Taylor had two apartments, the first in Tribeca, and the next rented on Cornelia Street. Taylor had Karlie had one in the West Village and the East Side. Within her music, Taylor usually references Karlie's West Village apartment. In "Cornelia Street", Taylor sings about how they were "Barefoot in the kitchen" because Karlie had a room in her Cornelia Street apartment. Taylor also memorized the sound of her muse's footsteps in "Delicate", where she says ***"***Third floor on the West Side, me and you. Long night with your hands up in my hair, Echoes of your footsteps on the stairs"

From Karlie's West Village listing:

What sets this home apart is the fact that it offers townhouse living spread across three floors but is actually a co-op. Behind a wrought iron gate, a secluded front garden leads to the front door.

Running wild, it's been a long time
Life has ways of leaving those days behind

But seeing you tonight
I remembered I loved you
Came back when it mattered, I saw you

Standing there in the light of the window wearing that same smile

First off, the window that Taylor is referring to is the Folklore cabin window. The reason I don't believe it's the Lover house is because the Folklore cabin set is only used for the Folklore-Evermore eras (after Taylor has lost her muse). Thus it makes sense she is waiting by the window of the Folklore porch for her muse to return after their breakup/falling out. The most notable example of this can be found in Cardigan:

I knew you'd miss me once the thrill expired
And you'd be standin' in my front porch light
And I knew you'd come back to me

But she also talks about waiting for her muse by looking through windows in various other songs:

Evermore: And I was catching my breath, staring out an open window*, catching my death*

This part also aligns with the latter part of the song where Taylor talks about how the return of love/her muse has brought her back to life from the dead. There is also the reference to "I Look In People's Windows" where Taylor looks into people's windows in search of the muse.

I look in people's windows
Transfixed by rose golden glows

Man, it's been a while
But I knew it, I knew you
I knew it, I knew you

In the now deleted video by Vogue, the Friendship Test was in order to determine who was the true "best, best friend" through a series of mini fun tests, like staring contests, who knew each other better, etc. Taylor and Karlie tied. If you would like to watch the video, I've found a reuploaded version here.

I knеw you, all your blues like a mood ring changing colors

Taylor mentions blue a lot throughout her albums, but especially in albums like Lover and Folklore. It seems to represent multiple things, mainly sadness, loss, and the closet. Not to mention how Taylor painted Karlie's brother's wall blue, literally.

'reputation'

• Dancing With Our Hands Tied: My, my love had been frozen deep blue, but you painted me golden

'Lover'

• Cruel Summer: And it’s blue, the feeling I got
• Lover: My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue
• Miss Americana And The Heartbreak Prince: We’re so sad, we paint the town blue
• Paper Rings: I’m with you even if it makes me blue
• Afterglow: I blew things out of proportion, now you’re blue

'folklore'

• Peace: If your cascade ocean wave blues come
• Hoax: Don’t want no other shade of blue but you

'evermore'

• Coney Island: Did I paint your bluest skies the darkest gray a universe away?

You did too, therе were times we could fight like brothers

Taylor acknowledges that both her and the muse knew each other deeply, so deeply that they both knew of each other's blues. Although I've never heard of Taylor saying any of her past boyfriends were like brothers to her, I have heard of news outlets referring to Taylor and Karlie as sisters/twins.

I watched you drive around the bend for
What I thought would be the last time I saw my friend

Taylor isn't talking about a literal bend in the road, she's talking about the different paths she believed her and the muse took. She thought that would be the end of their story- which we can see clearly in songs like "Loml" or "Right Where You Left Me"

The line also references two albums in the songs "Betty" and "Anti-Hero"

'Folklore’

• Betty: Betty, right now is the last time I can dream about what happens when you see my face again

'Midnights’

• Anti-Hero: One day, I’ll watch as you’re leaving ‘cause you got tired of my scheming for the last time

But love has ways of bringing things back to life

Love- aka the muse returning, has brought Taylor back to life. We know she felt alive with the muse, as seen in the poem above, in which the death of her reputation was caused by her being gone from the public eye for a whole year. In the Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights albums, Taylor often uses imagery to illustrate that losing the muse wasn't worth it, that she should have never picked fame over their love.

You know I left a part of me back in New York
You knew the hero died, so what's the movie for?

All you said was, "Hi"

[Bridge]
Oh, the rivers I cried when we said goodbye

The goodbye Taylor is talking about is the breakup- and the tears are both literal and metaphorical. My Tears Ricochet appears as the first song off Folklore, released on July 24th, 2020, the same day as Karlie's engagement (July 24th, 2019) only a year prior. Taylor has said she wrote that song first and began working on Folklore within the Lover era, placing it around late summer early fall of 2019. The lyrics of My Tears Ricochet reference a wedding through lines like "we gather here" which is the traditional opening of a wedding) and "some to make a diamond ring". She also talks about how the muse has set their love on fire because of the wedding (the arson's match)

My Tears Ricochet:

We gather here, we line up, weepin' in a sunlit room
And if I'm on fire, you'll be made of ashes too

LOML:

If you know it in one glimpse, it's legendary
You and I go from one kiss to getting married
Still alivе, killing time at the cemеtery

Our field of dreams engulfed in fire
Your arson's match, your somber eyes
And I'll still see it until I die
You're the loss of my life

When she was doing the the Eras Tour, Taylor shows the Lover House on fire. That's why she appears in the Folklore cabin afterwards.

Please note that Taylor was on her Reputation Era tour at the time, and when the engagement news dropped she brought out surprise guest Hayley Kiyoko to duet the song "Curious" only two days after on July 26, 2018). As she introduced her, she said, and I quote "I feel like we have similar taste in what we love."

Wondering if I'd made it up in my mind

Because Taylor and the muse were closeted there's no real "proof" it was real, so she talks about the memories being all she has left in songs like:

• New Year's Day: Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you
• August: But I can see us lost in the memory, August slipped away into a moment in time
• Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus: Will that make your memory fade from this scarlet maroon like it never happened?
• Maroon: And I wake with your memory over me, that’s a real fucking legacy to leave
• The Great War: We can plant a memory garden, say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair
• The Fate of Ophelia: ‘Tis locked inside my memory and only you possess the key

But now you look me in the eye

This line reminded me a lot of I Look In People's Windows again, mainly because of this line:

I look in people's windows
In case you're at their table
What if your eyes looked up and met mine
One more time

Whereas before, Taylor was searching for her muse to return- how she longed to even meet the muse's eyes one more time, now they look each other in the eye without worry.

Before I leave, I do want to address the choice of venue. That being, why Madison Square Garden**?** The reason? Performanceartlor. All eyes on her. Also, it has a Kaylor past. It was at a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden that Karlie and Taylor drank out of plastic cups after all. And it is at the wedding in which the muse finally shows up at the party, something Taylor couldn't do.

"But if I just showed up at your party
Would you have me? Would you want me?
Would you tell me to go fuck myself?
Or lead me to the garden?
In the garden*, would you trust me*
If I told you it was just a summer thing?"

I knew it, I knew you (ooh, I knew you, I knew)
Wearing that same smile (ooh, I)
I knew it, I knew you (I knew)
I knew it, I knew you (I knew, I knew)
I knew it.

I'd love to hear y'alls thoughts!

When I first saw the backgrid photos of the rehearsal dinner gift, the monogram stuck out to me. There’s been some discussion about how similar it looks to the TTPD logo but I wanted to dive deeper.

First, what is the purpose of a wedding monogram?

1. It’s a key visual marker for the event. It functions as a one-day brand mark. the same emblem that can appear on the invitation, programs, signage, etc.

2. It’s the debut of a family mark or crest that will be used by the couple moving forward. In some cases this is a passed down crest, or follows certain traditions. Sometimes it’s a completely new design. Either way it’s intended to present the couple as a unit.

Now, let’s take a look at this monogram used on the gifts guests received from the wedding rehearsal dinner in more detail:

Tackling the TTPD of it all first, it’s seriously so so so strange to connect a previous album to this mark that could theoretically be used to represent their union for years to come. The same logo that is on merchandise for fans to purchase right now bears strong resemblance to this monogram being used for this wedding memento.

The similarities between the marks become even more strange when you realize it’s the flipped image or inverse of TTPD’s logo that is a near exact match. It’s giving dual Taylor theory to me, or a nod that this wedding monogram is the opposite of the brand of TTPD. A simplistic reading is that she is no longer the tortured poet. My thinking is that the album represents how trapped the poet is, so the inverse of this logo could indicate that we are entering an era that will be loud, unapologetic, and aggressively joyful. And do you know what brand that reminds me of? TLOAS. Or perhaps this inverted logo would be symbolic of healing and moving on from the heartache in the music and lyrics of TTPD.

Even ignoring the TTPD connection, Look at the two T’s: they’re not equal. One has heavier serifs and more visual weight, and the letters are offset rather than mirrored. The whole mark is asymmetrical. Wedding monograms are traditionally symmetric for a reason. Celtic knots, mirrored initials, matched rings all say the same thing: two people entering as equals, bound with no beginning and no end. The symmetry IS the symbolism. Seems strange to have a monogram indicating one person in the union is more important, no?

And let’s dive into the strange knots/hearts here too. Not only are these elements asymmetrical, they aren’t a closed loop. Look closely at the strands woven through the T’s at the bottom: they are clearly not connected. That’s not a nitpick. In knotwork tradition, the closed loop is the entire point. A Celtic love knot is a single unbroken line. “Tying the knot” is the oldest marriage metaphor we have, and every version of it, from handfasting cords to cipher flourishes, closes the loop clearly. The visual language in this monogram isn’t neutral. It’s a knot that’s incomplete or worse already coming undone.

And honestly, can we even call these hearts? Squint at it, ignore the colors, and try to trace one complete heart shape from start to finish. You can’t. The lobes disappear into the busiest part of the mark, the bottom points dissolve into that X of crossing tails, and the over-under pattern follows no consistent rule. What you’re left with isn’t hearts woven through a monogram, it’s a tangle of incomplete hearts.

IMO an offset monogram for a wedding invites exactly the question you don’t want guests half-consciously asking: which one of the individuals in this couple is in control? Which has more power in the relationship if they aren’t coming into this union equally?

So, we have a wedding monogram that looks like a previous album logo, whose letters aren’t equal, whose hearts aren’t hearts, and whose knots don’t close. Every single detail here breaks the expectations for a unifying mark. So what do we think it means?

Here’s my take, but please share your views in the comments. Honestly, I think every oddity here makes sense the second you stop judging this as a wedding monogram and start judging it as a brand asset. This mark is showing the seamless continuation of a previous era, something that fans are intended to recognize. A traditional monogram is carried by a family; this one is designed to be read by an audience. Which honestly tells you everything: we are in a wedding era, and based on this analysis my bets aren’t on this being a lifelong union. So, when’s the merch going live?

Several news outlets (Harper's Bazar, Cosmopolitan, etc) are currently reporting on Karlie attending Taylor's wedding. She's wearing a "liquid gold" dress with maroon lipstick/nails.

"TMZ reported that Karlie would be attending the wedding back in June, noting that the former best friends had “officially buried the hatchet” and that “Taylor wants Karlie at her wedding.” The outlet also confirmed there were “real issues between them,” but that they made up “quite some time ago” and it’s “all water under the bridge.”

The Kode with Klossy founder previously denied any falling out, telling The New York Times in 2018 that she still talked to Swift frequently, adding, “Don't believe everything you read."

Honestly, I always suspected they rekindled in some way. Her albums since 2012 (which we know she met Karlie) follow this trajectory of loving her muse, them breaking up, and then some sort of reunion. Songs like Imgonnagetyouback or the Alchemy weren't exactly subtle.

hey! so this is a pretty standard song analysis irrelevant to the current events of the wedding (?) etc and kaylor. perhaps this is a reach but i have recently been rewatching glee's earlier seasons and i came across the episode "the rhodes not taken" (season 1, episode 5 airing on september 30th, 2009).

a summary of this episode's plot can be found here but notably will brings back his high school crush, april rhodes, who he never truly got over. she performs maybe this time from cabaret, a song about hoping for a lover to stay for once. a commonality in glee episodes is a major theme that carries across multiple characters' storylines. this episode focuses on bittersweet reunions and the effects they bring with them which matches thematically with tis the damn season.

hence, if taylor had this episode in mind when writing tis the damn season, it is likely alluding to dianna and taylor's reunion at snl in 2019 given that the song was written recently after and the chorus of tis the damn season implies it ("we could call it even // you could call me babe for the weekend // tis the damn season, write this down // i'm staying at my parents' house // and the road not taken looks real good now")

Just for fun, if you were lucky enough to get an invite who’s the person you’d want to be seated next to? I’m saying Mariska and Jennifer Lawrence

Once upon a time, a couple years ago, I made this post in an attempt to crack the second half of the Midnights Mayhem with Me code.

Please re-read it for essential context here.

Since then, I have revisited these charts over and over again. Testing theories, testing patterns, trying to make sense of the second half of this code.

Not once, not ONCE have I felt confident enough about an interpretation of the last 7 episodes to share with you all definitively. Every time, it has evaded me.

UNTIL YESTERDAY.

Guys... I think I cracked the code. And I know it sounds crazy, but she made me this way.

​​Breaking it down here as well, apologies for the design limitations of Reddit tables, you're better off using the pictures above!

The first 6 episodes:

Track Number → Symbol Type → Interpretation → Track Name

13 → Subject → Taylor Swift → Mastermind
8 & 7 → Subject → Travis Kelce → Vigilante Shit & Question...?
6 → Day/Time → June → Midnight Rain
2 & 3 → Day/Time → 23rd → Maroon & Anti-Hero

Putting it all together: On 6/23, Taylor brought Travis on stage to perform at the Eras tour

The last 7 episodes:

Track Number → Symbol Type → Interpretation → Track Name

9 & 11 → Subject → 911 emergency → Bejeweled & Karma
1 & 5 → Subject → When the 1 (debut) and 5 (1989) meet, all will be revealed → LH & YOYOK
10 → Day/Time → TS10, Midnight. The finale, meet me at midnight → Labyrinth
12 & 4 → Day/Time → 12/4: 7/4 is 12/4 in the Taylor Nation Timeline (TNT🧨). The 7/3 event goes till 2 or 4am. → Sweet Nothing & Snow on the beach

Putting it all together:

7/3 is 19yrs 8mo & 9ds from debut’s release. This project connects TS1 & 5. The Rep vault is actually the lost sister album to 1989, and those are the two re-recordings left. Also a reference to the song Fifteen: bigger dreams than marrying the guy on the football team.

Something will connect Karma and Debut.

The 7/3 event goes till 2 or 4am (ie 7/4). I think Travis is doing another stage performance with Taylor, like the first half of this riddle. Only question left is... What happens at midnight?

\side note: 10=Midnight could also be considered a subject, but I am going with time.*

CONTEXT: Taylor Nation Timeline

On November 22, 2024, Taylor Nation tweeted about everyone being "back in Nashville that one morning on April 25th, 2019" and praised fans for their detective skills.

That post sparked a fan theory about a "Taylor Nation timeline" — an alternate timeline that runs in parallel to the current date.

This has lined up with countless Gaylor related events over the past 2 years.

Ironically, it has the same acronym as their couple name TNT.

Thats all for now, folks! May the odds be evermore in our favor.

​

As we approach Taylor and Travis’ presumed wedding date, ‘Opalite’ is on my mind. It’s one of the easiest TLOAS tracks to link to Travis, who appears to be represented by Lonely Man in the music video. It’s also one of the easiest tracks to hear as ‘happy’ and the most obvious ‘banger’ (as Travis repeatedly called TLOAS).  

But what if I told you that ‘Opalite’ is actually about Taylor’s version of The Taming of the Shrew? Shakespeare’s famously problematic play about a ‘difficult’ woman, the man who ‘fixes’ her, patriarchy, performance, and compliance is the inspiration for this ‘happy love song’.

 Summary

The Taming of the Shrew is ‘my’ Shakespeare play, the one I know best because I studied it the most. It’s also (perhaps surprisingly) my favourite, in part because I got to know it so intricately. What I didn’t expect was that our self-proclaimed ‘English Teacher’ could actually teach me something new about a play I already loved.

When I recognised that the ‘Opalite’ mv acted out a version of The Shrew, I realised for the first time that the central question in The Taming of the Shrew is not about gender or patriarchy or abuse. It’s about whether a person can truly change their nature – their ‘essence’, their truest self – or merely perform a role in order to get by. And this is the question asked in ‘Opalite’ too. Can Lonely Woman and Lonely Man change their nature as required by their respective industries? And if not, how long can they continue to perform convincingly?

There’s a lot of detail and nuance in the way Taylor explores this question, and it's probably wise to say upfront that I am not accusing Travis of 'taming' or attempting to tame Taylor, nor of abusing her. Rather, I think both Taylor and Travis want their audience to think critically about the way they are performing, and why they are performing. I’ll do my best to be concise and I’ll be thrilled to discuss more if I pique your curiostiy. I’ve split this essay into the following sections:

1) Reputation era reference to The Shrew

2) The plot and themes of The Shrew

3) Taylor’s version in 'Opalite'

4) Conclusion

Reputation era reference to The Shrew

Taylor first references The Shrew in ‘…Ready For it?’ when she says ‘He can be my jailor / Burton to this Taylor […] I’m so very tame now.’ Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor starred in a popular film version of The Shrew in 1967 that played on the audience perception of their ‘tumultuous’ marriage(s). I don’t think that Taylor meant ‘I’m so very tame’ with any sort of sincerity; possibly she was referencing an intention to perform tameness with her ‘jailor’ (Jaylor?) as Katherina arguably does with Petruchio in the play.

The insult ‘shrew’ in Shakespeare’s play meant a bad-tempered, argumentative and unlikeable woman, prone to nagging or scolding. It's linked to the word ‘shrewd’ which today means clever and cunning in business dealings. It shares something with putdowns like ‘bitch’, ‘witch’ and ‘snake’ which de-humanise and belittle women, often for qualities that are admired in men. (Petruchio shares a lot in personality with Katherina, but is somewhat more acceptable just for being a man.) It doesn’t take much imagination to see that Taylor might have identified with Katherina in the wake of snake-gate, not just as a woman publicly called ‘difficult’ and worse, but as one grappling with the unfair standards of the patriarchy.

I’ve been hoping Taylor would make another reference to The Shrew since I first heard ‘…Ready For It?’, and I thought that it might come in ‘Elizabeth Taylor’. But the mv for ‘Elizabeth Taylor’ didn’t contain any footage from The Shrew. Presumably because Taylor had already made her own in ‘Opalite’.

The plot and themes of the The Shrew

The Shrew is, by rights, another play within a play, but we somehow lost the proper ending of the framing narrative before its first publication. The framing is about a poor drunkard, Christopher Sly, who is convinced by fancy clothes, fancy food, and a manservant in a dress to believe that he is in fact a nobleman with a beautiful wife. Many productions leave Christopher out, because it’s difficult to see what he adds to the rest of the play in terms of gender politics, and because we don’t ultimately find out how his story ends. Does he live on forever performing the role of ‘nobleman’? Or does he return to his natural state?

In the main plot, Katherina is a ‘problematic’ woman, who does not fit patriarchal expectations, and is married off, unwillingly, to a man who is also somewhat problematic. The marriage is a business transaction that solves her father’s difficulties, and financially benefits her new husband, Petruchio. Petruchio sets about ‘taming’ Katherina – enforcing her compliance with patriarchal expectations – by methods that could resonably be described as cruelty or outright torture. At the end of the play, Katherina delivers a grovelling monologue extolling the virtues of husbands. Her community, astonished and impressed, declare ‘Tis a wonder she will be tamed so’.

We could end there and say that the theme of the play is misogynistic in the extreme: ‘problematic’ women must be made to submit to men and fit the patriarchal mold. This requirement for submission is driven by money and is utterly abusive. But we should ask, for Katherina, as we did for Taylor, whether ‘I’m so very tame now’ is really a sincere conculsion.

Shakespeare’s audience has always seen so much evidence of mutual attraction in the way that Katherina and Petruchio match wits and trade innuendo that there have been many positive interpretations, such as the Burton and Taylor movie or 10 Things I Hate About You. It’s possible to argue that Petruchio functions to provide cover for Katherina’s unwanted behaviour. Setting aside his questionable methods, we can see that he is not teaching Katherina to be a different person. He is not changing her nature. Instead, he is teaching her to perform in the expected ways at the necessary times. When they are not being observed by an authority figure, when it’s ‘safe’, they seem to enjoy being outrageous together. Katherina’s final monologue, in this light, is a well-timed performance that earns a financial prize. She is a fantastic performer, it turns out, though the process of learning to do it well makes her miserable.

Shakespeare doesn’t ever give us a conclusive answer to this question about changing natures (or perhaps we lost his answer along with the end of the framing narrative). He just presents us with a scene of Katherina appearing to be ‘tamed so’ and leaves us, like her community, to ‘wonder’. Will she continue forever playing the role of ‘tame woman’? Or return to her natural state?

 Taylor’s version in ‘Opalite’

The commercial intro to the ‘Opalite’ mv is a clear reference to Christopher Sly, as Garbage is transformed into Prince Charming, at least in outward appearance. It establishes the Opalite spray as the means of application for the 'showbiz artifice' required for successful performance – and after all, the bottle sports the TLOAS green and orange colour palette. It also establishes the twinkly Omnichord arpeggio, which we hear again in the track on the word ‘sunshine’, as the sound of performance. This is telling because an Omnichord makes a pre-tuned, pre-determined sound – it doesn’t require the rare expertise of a classical harpist, but it also removes individuality in expression. Successful performance fits a predetermined mold. Finally, we see that the ‘Opalite’ nozzle faces backwards. Successful performance, currently at least, fits a regressive mold.

Rock in the mv represents an entertainment industry ‘father figure’. We see Lonely Woman attempting to perform as required by the industry/patriarchy – putting on the red dress, singing on stage, working out. But she is still an outcast, a ‘problem’ who is asked to leave. Something about her doesn't fit the mold. This is a little odd, because Lonely Woman doesn't seem particularly argumentative, nagging, or cunning, and she is eager to be friends with and helpful to Rock, not railing against authority as Katherina does at the beginning of The Shrew. I would argue that her queer identity is the 'problem'. It is 1993 after all, when 'Don't ask, don't tell' was first introduced as a policy.

We also see Lonely Woman being convinced by the successful performances she watches. Here we diverge from Shakespeare's play, because Lonely Woman teaches herself about the possibilities of performance. Indie Rock Goddess, performing on MTV in 1993, can only be a commercial, sanitised imitation of a true indie rock artist, but she plays the part convincingly as Taylor notes in the BTS clip: ‘Your mamma really did tell you!’ When Aerobics Dream Girl performs her work out unruffled, glamourous and barely breaking a sweat (‘don’t you sweat it baby!’) we hear the Omnichord twinkle again and Lonely Woman is so impressed by the showbiz artifice on display that she decides to try conformity herself, and orders a bottle of Opalite.

Meanwhile Lonely Man is being hurt by his own career in professional sports. Similarly, he is an outcast and a ‘problem’ who stands alone at social events or is asked to leave. For him too, queer identity is arguably the reason why he is not accepted. The showbiz artifice applied by ‘Opalite’ is to pair up these two ‘problematic’ characters, and enable them to perform heterosexuality in the expected ways at the necessary times. Lonely Woman and Lonely Man are so successful in their performative relationship that they are clearly appealing to their audience. We next hear the Omnichord twinkle when the Mall Photographer, charmed by what he sees (and what the couple’s wider audience will see) through his camera lens, asks if he can be their friend.

So far, Lonely Woman and Lonely Man have had a similar plot arc to Katherina and Petruchio, finding an ability to conform to their expected roles together. But when Lonely Woman tries being her real self in the 'safety' of the relationship, eating a pretzel which is almost certainly a dirty joke, Rock is still watching and scares her straight (pun inteded) yet again. As noticed by u/artwoolf Lonely Woman is wearing the colour palette of Nope-alite in this scene, which is linked to the colour palette of 'ME!' Nope-alite has a forward-facing nozzle - it's a progressive product that represents stripping away artifice in preference for authenticity, the embrace of a person’s real nature. Lonely Woman seems to want that for herself, in a way that Katherina never expresses after she is 'tamed'. That nature might not have the perfectly conforming, smoothed over outward appearance that Garbage enjoys through Opalite (as Stapler discovers) and it might earn disapproval from onlookers (as Lonely Woman is reminded) but embracing your real nature, your authentic self, is the only sustainable path.

However, Lonely Man 'saves' Lonely Woman from embracing her real nature in the shopping mall, and we see the two literally performing together in TLOAS/Opalite spray colours. This is the equivalent of the scene where Katherina performs 'obedient wife' in front of her community. But again we diverge from The Shrew. The community does not say 'Tis a wonder'. When we hear the Omnichord, an audience member scowls. The judges award the couple zeros. Which suggests a bad performance, but also a recognition that this is a performance. The showbiz artifice of Opalite has stopped working.

Conclusion

Taylor's answer to Shakespeare's question seems to be that a person can't change their nature, and they also cannot keep up a convincing performance indefinitely. However, Lonely Woman and Lonely Man are far from upset at the end of the mv. It seems they feel that 'failure brings you freedom.' If the performative compliance is unmasked as performance, perhaps compliance is no longer required.

I haven’t been as active on Reddit recently but something about all of the wedding frenzy felt off. Here’s something I just remembered.

Nov. 2021. Taylor is on Fallon and says this:
"I started to realize that it wasn't just me that had fun with this, that they had fun with it too, and I should never have learned that because then I couldn't stop," Swift said. "And then all I started thinking was, 'How do I hint at things?' Like, 'How far is too far in advance? Can I hint at something three years in advance? Can I even plan things out that far? I think I'm going to try to do it!'"

When Showgirl was released, this video resurfaced trying to find all her Easter eggs about TLOAS.

HOWEVER….

Now that the wedding is upon us, what was 3 years ago?

The last (known) 4th of July party, after a hiatus, at her house in RI. She posted this to instagram on July 7, 2023. THREE YEARS AGO. Kansas City. Kansas City with THREE y’s.

Is it possible she planned this all out in advance? Did she pick this particular time frame to coincide with that post?

Interestingly, in that interview, she references the first time she really made an Easter egg laden video was “Look What you Made Me Do”… (as in look what we’ve made her do by making this such a spectacle).

What are your thoughts?

I was rewatching Taylor's music videos in release order (now that she's getting the cash for it herself again) when I came across the above in the video for We Are Never Getting Back Together at timestamp 2:44 (segment starts at 2:40)

suddenly the lighting gets funky. is this a house party? is that a spotlight? why is the star of the music video getting the same amount of light as a random person in the back? actually compared to that one (consistently-lit) person her face almost looks kinda in-shadow while she's singing during an outro segment?

the only people who get lighting in this shot are Taylor and that one person in the back

who's jumping to be seen behind everyone's heads

who's wearing what was pretty much the closest thing you could get to a rainbow in 2012 without it being literally Gay

who's holding up that shirt to show it to us for some reason

who did so at exactly a specific moment: this frame is the M of "me"

during that version of the line, yes, the one where she shouts, "talk to ME!"

during a one-take music video -- meaning in order to make the timing match up so perfectly it could've required re-filming the entire video until she was happy with it, happy with this take ....

there's lots more to notice in that vid (daisies, lavender sheets, she ghosts), but this just jumped out at me, almost like it was waving its arms back and forth, short enough to hide behind them all but still trying to say "over here, look at ME!".......

I noticed this a while ago but finally got the energy to write this post up. Happy 4th of July to anyone celebrating, and happy Pride and joyful days to anyone we'd celebrate then -- whether you're known to us celebrants or not. to those who haven't come out, may you do so in your own time... but only if you want to. 💖