Taylor Swift hasn’t always had that “red lip, classic thing” that fans like.
In fact, it took until March 2009 for the pop superstar to claim her iconic look.
Swift had just released her hit album, “Fearless,” and the 19-year-old was gearing up for The Fearless Tour, her first-ever headlining run.
Swift had signed on to do a cover with Allure that same month. Her makeup artist for the shoot, Gucci Westman — founder of the clean beauty brand Westman Atelier — claims she helped Swift venture into the world of the red lip.
“Yeah, I’ve worked [with Taylor Swift], many times,” Westman recently told Elle Australia. “I haven’t worked with her in quite a while but I used to work with her, and I remember I was the first one to give her a red lip.”
Westman recalled the Allure shoot and said she had to ask Swift’s mom, Andrea Swift, for special permission to use the bold color.
“She’d never worn a red lip,” Westman told Elle. “When the red lip happened, I had to get permission by her mom.”
At the time, Westman said Swift’s management told her that “Taylor doesn’t do red.”
“Well, Taylor needs to try red,” Westman said she countered.
An Allure article about the shoot explains that Westman was trying to give Swift “an updated Vargas-girl look, with a strong mouth and beautiful skin.” Westman finished the look with “mauve blush, brown eye shadow, black mascara, and vivid red lipstick.”
Swift apparently loved the red lipstick so much that Westman gave her a tube of her own to take home, launching a recognizable look that has carried on throughout Swift’s career.
Red lipstick has since become synonymous with Swift’s aesthetic since that fateful Allure shoot.
She kicked off the Fearless Tour shortly after in April 2009, where she immediately took to showcasing her new red-lip look.
Despite the many costume changes throughout the show each night, one thing remained constant: The red lipstick.
Swift has since worn red lipstick to major events like the Grammys, in music videos like “Shake It Off,” and on several album covers, including “Red,” “1989,” and “Midnights.”
She has also referenced the look many times in her lyrics, starting with the “Red” deluxe track “The Moment I Knew” (“In red lipstick with no one to impress”).
This imagery appears most often throughout “1989,” in “Blank Space” (“Cherry lips, crystal skies”), “Wildest Dreams” (“Red lips and rosy cheeks”), and “Style” (“I’ve got that red lip, classic thing that you like”), among others.
Most recently, she mentioned red lips in “Maroon,” the second track on her newest album “Midnights” (“The lips I used to call home / So scarlet, it was maroon”).
