Why You'll Never See Taylor Swift Get A Tattoo

Tattoos are not Taylor Swift's thing. While Swift has cleverly incorporated fake tattoos into her marketing, such as the time she donned a hauntingly beautiful mosaic featuring butterflies and snakes on her back to announce "You Need to Calm Down," it seems she's never actually gone under the needle. Well, at the very least, she's never gotten any visible tattoos, but even clandestine ink seems to be a huge nonstarter for the singer, given her previous interview with Taste of Country. "People are always asking like, 'Would you get a tattoo?' and I don't think I could ever commit," she said in 2012. "I don't think I could ever commit to something permanent ... I don't want to get a tattoo."

With that said, a lot can change in a decade-plus, so it's possible that Swift's stance on tattoos has evolved in recent years. Plus, she already implied that she could have secret tattoos that fans would never know about. During a hilarious discussion about midriffs with Lucky magazine, Swift revealed that her aversion to flaunting her belly button would make it the perfect spot for a hidden tattoo. "As far as anyone knows based on my public appearances, they haven't seen evidence of a belly button," she said, adding, "It could be pierced. They have no idea. If I'm going to get some sort of massive tattoo, it's going to be right next to my belly button because no one's ever going to see that."

Okay, that actually sounds like the perfect plan!

Taylor Swift may be opposed to altering her temple with tattoos, but she obviously finds them to be an intriguing topic. Dating back as early as 2010, the Grammy Award-winning star has woven in mentions of tattoos into several of her songs. In fact, "Ours," a track from "Speak Now," actually provides a major hint about where Swift might have inherited her dislike for tats. "And any snide remarks from my father about your tattoos will be ignored 'cause my heart is yours," she sang about her fictional bad boy. By the time she released "Reputation" in 2017, however, she was using tattoos as a positive metaphor. "Make your mark on me, a golden tattoo," she sang in "Dress."

"The Tortured Poets Department," released in 2024, features Swift's most recent mention of tattoos. "You smokеd, then ate seven bars of chocolate. We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist," she sang, setting the stage about a lover fans are convinced is singer Matty Healy. "I scratch your head, you fall asleep. Like a tattooed golden retriever." Whether or not Swift was actually crooning about Healy, the short-lived, controversial fling she enjoyed before linking up with NFL star Travis Kelce, is still up for personal debate. However, it's clear that she still associates tattoos with edgier vices such as smoking, which could explain why, so far, she's still never actually gotten one herself.

If Swift ever goes to get a tattoo, let's hope it doesn't go horribly wrong.