Alumna Molly Gilroy (English Literature, 2018) has recently been appointed as one of four of the V&A Taylor Swift Superfans Advisors in line with the V&A’s free Taylor Swift | Songbook Trail which opened on Saturday 27 July, curated by Kate Bailey, Senior Curator of Theatre and Performance at the V&A . We were excited to speak to Molly now and catch up about what the enchanted experience has been like.
If you’ve got a blank space in your calendar and are interested in having a Swiftie summer rather than a brat summer then the V&A South Kensington is the place to be, as their theatrical trail allows visitors to explore costumes and outfits worn by the 14-time Grammy Award winning artist, Taylor Swift. The trail marks the success of Taylor’s UK tour and celebrates the creativity of her costumes, lyrics and music videos as well as exploring the global phenomenon of the pop icon. Each of the 13 stops on the trail showcases a chapter in the songbook of Taylor’s career.
For Exeter alumna Molly, Taylor Swift has been a part of many eras of her life and began with hearing ‘Love Story’ on the Radio for the first time, at 13 years old. She shares: “That weekend, I went into town with my parents HMV to buy both Fearless and Debut on CD. Soon, I was going down an ‘Easter Egg’ rabbit hole and stared to learn guitar! I fell in love with Taylor’s storytelling and her journey across genres has mapped my journey from childhood to adolescence, to adulthood.”
Earlier this year the V&A in London opened applications for Taylor Swift Superfans Advisors and Molly was one of four candidates selected from more than 1,000 applicants for the advisor role. The Superfan advisory role has been a dialogue between the four superfans and Kate Bailey, Senior Curator of Theatre and Performance at the V&A, from sharing the significance of elements of Swiftie culture – from the origins of drawing 13 on their hands, to fan chants, Taylurking and the ‘it’s not me it’s Becky’ meme and intricate themes between Taylor’s lyrics and albums.
Remembering the process from application to appointment Molly recalls: “Having also gained a masters in Film Curation and Exhibition from the University of Edinburgh, the role felt as if my two worlds – Taylor and the creative industries – had collided! For the application, being able to write about my relationship to Swifties, share my memorabilia and think curatorially about how Taylor’s lyrics chime with items in the V&As collection, from romantic paintings to quill pens, was a pure joy. When I received the news, I went from shock to pride to excitement. And of course, I celebrated that weekend by watching ‘Journey to Fearless’, the ‘Speak Now World Tour’ and the ‘folklore longpond studio sessions’.”
Molly is certainly the lucky one as she has seen Taylor perform eight times in her life, including the 1989 era, twice at the Reputation Stadium Tour, then in 2023 flew to Santa Clara to see the Eras Tour. As well as having tickets to see the Lover tour (which was cancelled due to the covid pandemic). She also recently masterminded seeing the Eras tour three times in Edinburgh, and for the final night of the original Wembley dates. A moment for Molly that made her feel like she’d entered wonderland was meeting Paul Sidotti (lead guitarist and vocalist for Taylor) at the Reputation Stadium tour in 2018 (second image below) in Wembley. Molly says: “I met someone who has been with her from her earliest beginnings, and it was such a privilege and pinch-me moment.” She also got her first Taylor tattoo after the Eras tour combining surprise songs from Edinburgh Night 2: Getaway Car and The Bolter. So, Molly was not about to shake off the chance to talk for evermore about being a superfan adviser.
The experience of the trail for Molly felt like a real homage to Taylor’s creativity and growth. She shares: “for those fans who have been there from the beginning, it’s a real intimate and emotional experience to see just how far she has come from wearing her country boots on the soul 2 soul 2007 tour to seeing the powder blue Oscar de la Renta gown she wore for The Eras Tour film premiere in Los Angeles in 2023.” So in some ways the trail is a real-life Easter Egg! Molly excitedly elaborates: “Every corner you turn, you just don’t quite know what to expect. The fact that the “one single thread of gold” ties together the whole trail (which is around a mile long and would need around 1.5-2 hours to complete) is a beautiful nod to the fans intricate knowledge of Taylor’s lyrics. It feels like Taylor has just left the V&A scattering her archive!”
With so many wonderful items making their way into the trail we were curious which will live long in Molly’s memory, and she shared: “I adored seeing the 2018 Reputation Tour outfit (with the sequin snake -adorned microphone) up close as it took me back to seeing her wearing it at Wembley! I love that if you treat the exhibition like one of Taylor’s music videos with Easter Eggs and look closely at the adjoining rooms between this era, you’ll see plenty of Victorian Gothic revival snake images decorating vases and furniture.”
Friendship is a huge part of being a Swiftie, from decoding albums together, to screaming along to lyrics in long car journeys, and trading friendship bracelets and making new friends together at tours. It’s a community that is ready to fearlessly fight dragons with you, whatever they may look like in your life.
This has definitely been the case for Molly as she shares: “Over the years I’ve been lucky to make friends both in person (from spotting subtley coded merchandise or, of course, spontaneously at tours) and through social media meetups because of Taylor’s music. Naturally, the four of us Superfans have created such a unique friendship through this incredibly unique opportunity and ability to share our insights with Kate Bailey, Senior Curator of Theatre and Performance at the V&A (pictured left).”
Molly also happily announced: “I’m also proud that I converted one of my best friends, who I studied English Literature with at Exeter, to Taylor and she’s a full Swiftie now! We bonded over both our mum’s diagnosis of a rare chronic illness (rheumatoid arthritis) so we’ve fought those emotional battles together. It was so euphoric to scream ‘so casually cruel in the name of being honest’ and ‘I think I am finally clean’ (one of our surprise songs) together at Night 3 of the Eras Tour in Wembley.”
This community aspect has been built into the trail from the start right through to the superfan experience as the group including, Molly, led a preview tour of the trail to other fans as well. But the experience of this trail isn’t only for those with a strong Swiftie reputation. As for non-Taylor fans making their debut into the lore by experiencing the trail Molly shares that she thinks they’ll gain a better understanding of Taylor’s creativity and artistry; how she’s directed her own music videos, traversed genres and really built her own reputation. She says: “I hope they will come away with a curiosity to delve into her lyrics and see them as pure poetry!”
With Taylor’s music playing a huge part in Molly’s life so far, we had to round off our chat by asking her which three of Taylor’s tracks would she pick to represent her past, present and future.
- Past: “The Best Day” (Fearless) – “When I look back at my childhood, it’s filled with wholesome images of my mum and me. This song just takes me right back to those simpler times, of playing dress up, watching rom-coms over a silly film, or her comforting me after something happened at school– she’s my best friend, much like Andrea is to Taylor.”
- Present: “Lavender Haze” (Midnights) I’m very much in my own 70s-loving era, which mirrors Midnight’s aesthetic, but I feel that this period of my life – of having the incredible opportunity of working with the V&A and experiencing the Eras tour – does feel ‘dizzying’, almost as if I’m in this hazy magical moment! I also think this song taps into some of the pressures that women feel to conform to out-dated ‘expectations’ and I’m definitely more aware of that as I near the end of my 20s.
- Future: “peace” (folklore) “I think the sense of “a coming of age has now gone, suddenly the summer is clear” really sums up how I’m looking ahead to new opportunities and growth post my 30s.
Make sure you don’t have a Cruel Summer and visit the trail before it says ‘So Long, London’ next month! The Taylor Swift | Songbook Trail is on display across the V&A South Kensington’s permanent galleries until Sunday 8 September 2024, and you can plan your visit online.
Images 1,2,3,5,6 and 8 are copyrighted to Lewis Khan/V&A. Images 4 and 7 belong to Molly Gilroy.