It’s with curious bewilderment that we gawp over our social media feeds at this time of year. Every summer, on 4th July, we watch on from a distance as our friends across the pond celebrate the day America declared its Independence. We scroll through image upon image upon token generic firework boomerang, of people eating BBQ, dressed head to toe in little more than stars, stripes and a smile, celebrating their little asses off. And if there’s one celebrity who knows how to do this day in what we can only assume to be the ‘right’ way, it’s none other than ex-American Sweetheart, Taylor Swift.
Whether you’re consciously aware or have vague bells of recollection ringing in the back of your mind, Taylor Swift somehow became the embodiment of Independence Day celebrations. She is the Fourth Of July. Why? Because this one time she posted pictures of her and her showbiz friends celebrating America’s special day online and quite frankly I think the world was pretty fucking taken aback by how wholesome the whole thing seemed to be.
You see, Taylor suddenly redefined the image of celebrity partying. Those gloriously chaotic images of A-listers stumbling out of clubs cross-eyed, with one shoe missing, a boob hanging out and giving the paparazzi the middle finger that I so affectionately cherish from the nineties are on their way to being nothing but a memory. And for at least one day a year, a weekend at a push, Swifty traditionally gives us a (probably meticulously orchestrated) view of the new wave of celebrity millennials.
Through Taylor’s annual series of painfully beautiful pictures of her and her painfully beautiful friends, we’d see young stars frolicking on the beach, baking apple pies and bouncing around on giant inflatables. We’d see a collection of (or what was temporarily referred to as a ‘squad’ until the world grew sceptical of Taylor’s 1989 tour) some of the most famous people in the world sharing a lol or two over an American flag cake that they baked together.
This is the holiday that Taylor Swift claimed for her own. It’s the holiday that almost too brilliantly complemented her image as America’s Sweetest Girl Next Door (you know, until all the shit with Katy Perry didn’t go away, people got mad about her silence throughout the US elections and all of the other not very nice things that tend to happen to the ridiculously famous celebrities we put on pedestals). And it’s the holiday that allowed her to remind everyone of how many friends she has across the biz.
So, in the spirit of, well, Independence Day – and the fact that Taylor is yet to Instagram any jealousy inducing evidence of how much fun she’s had this year – here’s a brief journey through the evolution of Taylor’s star-studded 4th July celebrations.
2013
Welcome to the beginning. A time when Taylor Swift still publically partied with her band and tour buddies. A time when Taylor Swift’s actual family was allowed to feature in photographs. A time when Taylor Swift posted pictures to her blog.
Photos courtesy of Taylor Swift’s Blog
2014
See here the likes of Lena Dunham, Emma Stone, Amanda Griffith and other famous faces at one of Taylors early ‘see me and my squad having fun and being patriotic’ posts. 2014 was a very candid year in the history of Taylor Swift parties. Picture quality isn’t quite on point but I think that makes me like it more.
2015
This was the year of Calvin Harris. Sadly the pics of the two of them together have since been deleted post break up. But in case you needed reminding of the fact that Taylor Swift likes to bake and she and Ed Sheeran are BFFs…
2016
You’ve probably got pictures of this year’s party permanently etched in your brain. What with the Hiddleswift excitement still at its peak and the realisation that matching swimsuits might actually be cool, it was quite the year. Side note: One of my favourite memes of the summer was born out of Ryan Reynold’s face which reads ‘why am I here? Why am I posing for this picture? Why am I the only one not holding a drink?’
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.