{"id":773,"date":"2024-08-15T14:51:44","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T14:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/alumni-news\/?p=773"},"modified":"2024-08-15T16:02:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T16:02:32","slug":"alumna-lives-out-their-wildest-swiftie-dreams-as-va-taylor-swift-superfan-advisor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/alumni-news\/2024\/08\/15\/alumna-lives-out-their-wildest-swiftie-dreams-as-va-taylor-swift-superfan-advisor\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumna lives out their wildest Swiftie dreams as V&A Taylor Swift Superfan Advisor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alumna Molly Gilroy<\/a> (English Literature, 2018) has recently\u00a0been appointed as one of four of the\u00a0V&A Taylor Swift Superfans Advisors in line with the V&A\u2019s free Taylor Swift | Songbook Trail<\/em><\/a> <\/em>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve 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\u2019s 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\u2019s career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For Exeter alumna Molly, Taylor Swift has been a part of many eras of her life and began with hearing \u2018Love Story\u2019 on the Radio for the first time, at 13 years old. She shares: \u201cThat weekend, I went into town with my parents HMV to buy both Fearless and Debut on CD. Soon, I was going down an \u2018Easter Egg\u2019 rabbit hole and stared to learn guitar! I fell in love with Taylor\u2019s storytelling and her journey across genres has mapped my journey from childhood to adolescence, to adulthood.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2018it\u2019s not me it\u2019s Becky\u2019 meme and intricate themes between Taylor\u2019s lyrics and albums.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The four successful applicants to the V&A’s Taylor Swift Superfan role advertised earlier in the year: India Meade, Kelsey Barnes, Molly Gilroy, and Dr Iona Murphy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Remembering the process from application to appointment Molly recalls: \u201cHaving 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\u2019s 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 \u2018Journey to Fearless\u2019, the \u2018Speak Now World Tour\u2019 and the \u2018folklore longpond studio sessions\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019d entered wonderland was meeting Paul Sidotti (lead guitarist and vocalist for Taylor) at the Reputation Stadium tour in 2018 (second image below<\/em>) in Wembley. Molly says: \u201cI met someone who has been with her from her earliest beginnings, and it was such a privilege and pinch-me moment.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The experience of the trail for Molly felt like a real homage to Taylor\u2019s creativity and growth. She shares: \u201cfor those fans who have been there from the beginning, it\u2019s 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<\/em>.\u201d So in some ways the trail is a real-life Easter Egg! Molly excitedly elaborates: \u201cEvery corner you turn, you just don\u2019t quite know what to expect. The fact that the \u201cone single thread of gold\u201d 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\u2019s lyrics. It feels like Taylor has just left the V&A scattering her archive!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With so many wonderful items making their way into the trail we were curious which will live long in Molly\u2019s memory, and she shared: \u201cI 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\u2019s music videos with Easter Eggs and look closely at the adjoining rooms between this era, you\u2019ll see plenty of Victorian Gothic revival snake images decorating vases and furniture.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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\u2019s a community that is ready to fearlessly fight dragons with you, whatever they may look like in your life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This has definitely been the case for Molly as she shares: \u201cOver the years I\u2019ve 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\u2019s 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).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Molly also happily announced: \u201cI\u2019m also proud that I converted one of my best friends, who I studied English Literature with at Exeter, to Taylor and she\u2019s a full Swiftie now! We bonded over both our mum\u2019s diagnosis of a rare chronic illness (rheumatoid arthritis) so we\u2019ve fought those emotional battles together. It was so euphoric to scream \u2018so casually cruel in the name of being honest\u2019 and \u2018I think I am finally clean\u2019 (one of our surprise songs) together at Night 3 of the Eras Tour in Wembley.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Molly graduated from the University of Exeter in 2018 with a BA in English Literature.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t 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\u2019ll gain a better understanding of Taylor\u2019s creativity and artistry; how she\u2019s directed her own music videos, traversed genres and really built her own reputation. She says: \u201cI hope they will come away with a curiosity to delve into her lyrics and see them as pure poetry!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With Taylor\u2019s music playing a huge part in Molly\u2019s life so far, we had to round off our chat by asking her which three of Taylor\u2019s tracks would she pick to represent her past, present and future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n