Taylor, Selena, Lorde: Today’s Female Rat Pack Is Baller
Getty Images/ Corbis
Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and Lorde, sitting in the front row of the American Music Awards, were clearly the coolest girls in the room. Taken together—in their impeccably tailored styles and all-for-one vibe—they were reminiscent of another gang that was once made up of the coolest cats around.
Could we be watching a new Rat Pack form?
Swift, in the Frank Sinatra role, is definitely bringing her girlfriends together.
“I think there’s just a bigger priority on the women in my life now, they have taken the place of any absolutely other relationship that I used to prioritize,” she told CBS’s The Talk. “I think it’s so important to spend time on your own and prioritize your girlfriends.”
They love her back. Lorde recently dissed DJ Diplo after he criticized Swift’s butt—and started a fund to get her a new one—tweeting, “Should we do something about your tiny penis while we’re at it?”
Gomez and Lorde are also said to have made nice—in the past they’ve disagreed about what feminism means—to support Swift and each other.
It’s tempting to rename these three pop singers something cute and girly, like the Rah Pack, but they could just as easily be the Rat Pack 2.0. They’re the modern version of the friend-bonded, always-up-for-fun (but never disheveled) group led by Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr. in the 1960s.
Back then, those guys appeared together on stage and in films, including Ocean’s 11. Often when one of the members was scheduled to perform, the others would arrive for an impromptu show. The marquees at the Las Vegas hotels they sang at would often say, “Dean Martin – Maybe Frank – Maybe Sammy.”
The original “Rat Pack.” Photo: Corbis
Actor (and brother-in-law to John F. Kennedy) Peter Lawford and television entertainer Joey Bishop rounded out the group. They were all said to have hated the name, calling themselves the Summit or the Clan instead.
Swift could easily add other pals to her group, too, like model Karlie Kloss, who was also at the AMAs, or Girls creator Lena Dunham.
Like the Rat Pack’s crooning decades ago, Swift & Co.’s pop music is the most popular around right now. Throughout the AMA’s broadcast, they danced together and embraced. Swift also looked emotional in the audience as Gomez performed her song “The Heart Wants What It Wants.”
While Swift and her girlfriends may drink more Red Bulls than Manhattans or gin Martinis—the Rat Pack’s favorite cocktails—they’re just as enamored with sleek, figure-showing styles. The guys were the first to slim down their suits and dress shirts, shedding the boxier look of 1950s dresswear. They liked flair like sharkskin material for their suits and French cuffs for their shirts, too.
Swift showed her entire midriff in the Kelly green Michael Kors gown she wore to the AMAs, while Gomez had on a plunging, skintight black gown. Lorde did a bit of both, performing in a stomach-showing top and switching later to a fitted black dress.
The original Rat Pack was known for womanizing, and Swift and crew are also known for the heartbreak they’ve wrought. Marilyn Monroe, Angie Dickinson, and Shirley MacLaine were often referred to as the Rat Pack Mascots. Harry Styles and Justin Beiber could easily fill the Rat Pack 2.0 mascot roles.
The ladies even have a vacation pad, in Swift’s Rhode Island house, like the Rat Pack did in Palm Springs. Last Fourth of July she hosted a party where she and her friends created a giant Slip ‘N Slide and covered themselves in olive oil to make the rubber-riding more fun.
At his Palm Springs’ house, the singer reportedly had a flagpole outside that he raised to let his friends know it was cocktail hour.
Take note, Swift.
