Never let it be said that T.Swift isn’t savvy: She is in the UK to accept an Elle Style Award, and so she’s wearing a Welsh designer.

And this is pretty clearly an attempt to walk on the wilder side, especially on the heels of that exceedingly wholesome apple-pie Vogue photoshoot, where she and Karlie Kloss channeled their best Niki and Krissy Taylor impressions, as if it was YM and the year was 1992. I don’t think Taylor does anything that isn’t meticulously planned and whose effect is thoroughly mapped, and this must be to remind us all that she’s not JUST pop and love and light, but also in her mid-twenties and ready for us to take any forthcoming Dark Times Depicted In Song very seriously. I get it. She can’t just be one thing, but she also can’t go full Miley and start making sex toys out of My Little Pony memorabilia.

I just think the whole isn’t the sum of its parts here. What I like: the green, the dark pedicure, the shoes (more dramatic and less vintage-y than she normally picks), the slicked-back hair, for a change. What I could live with: the dress from the waist down, even though it’s still not my favorite; it’s the part I would salvage if we needed to keep something. What I am not sure about: the makeup. I do think I get the thinking that a purpley vampy lip would’ve taken this too costumey, but the lighter approach seems mismatched. What I really don’t like: the big exposed zipper, and the rest of the bodice. It sits too low, and the straps seem to draw attention to it rather than hold up the whole thing.

Have at it, Fug Nation. How would you adapt this, but still try to keep the more adult vibe Taylor clearly wants to create? Also, someone please introduce her to some more boys, because I think we’re all just about ready for her to have more song fodder. Failing that, she should just leaf through Us and write songs mining the pain of OTHER people’s breakups. I’m eager for her interpretation of, say, whether Common and Serena are having trouble letting each other go (called “Deuce (Advantage: You)”), or of course the pressing issue of Hilary Duff divorcing her Hockey Mike. She could call it “Penalty Box,” or “Two Minutes For Roughing (My Heart).”

[Photo: Getty]