Aside from making music that slaps, Sabrina Carpenter is also a bit of a genius when it comes to her creative direction and visual identity.
Related: 4 Things We’re Obsessing Over in Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” Music Video
She looks and sings like an angel, sizzles on stage, writes lyrics like a modern Shakespeare (if he was short and sweet), and is on a world tour. She’s Sabrina Carpenter, blonde polly pocket princess extraordinaire! Aside from her discography (and she’s been making hits for years), Sabrina has endeared herself to many with the way she knows how to present herself.
Any great era isn’t just about the music, it’s also in the vibes, looks, and imagery. And it’s a note Sabrina took to heart with her Short ‘n Sweet era. The imagery and visual styling of this era is highkey one of the best of any pop girl this year. It’s played a key role in why Sabrina has been as successful as she is. So, we’re getting into the visual storytelling of this sassy one-of-a-kind era.
Sabrina Carpenter said that the theme of Short ‘n Sweet is as follows: “It was not because I’m vertically challenged. It was really like I thought about some of these relationships and how some of them were the shortest I’ve ever had and they affected me the most.”
In the vein of The Tortured Poets Department, Sabrina Carpenter wrote an album on her situation instead of her current relationship. Understandable! Sometimes, short relationships leave deeper scars than longer or more stable ones – especially when they end abruptly or on bad terms. You can hear the cynicism about relationships in Slim Pickins and Dumb and Poetic.
With the central theme out of the way, let’s move onto the symbols and imagery of this era. Note: All of the imagery in her music videos is up to interpretation, but I’ll be making this analysis through the lens of her lyrics, personal life, and online discourse around her.
LIPSTICK KISS
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The lipstick kiss that features prominently on the album cover and her performances, whether on tour or on the 2024 VMAs stage, is pretty straightforward. It’s a nod to Sabrina’s flirty and sensual onstage persona and her penchant for all things feminine and girly.
It also invites the viewer to wonder how it got there on her back. (Jenna Ortega perhaps? Wishful thinking? One can only speculate). Note that the lipstick kiss is also a reference to a photo posted by French model Tiffany Collier in February of 2018, taken by photographer Bruno Juminer.
ESPRESSO
That’s that me espresso. Espresso is energy, it’s addictive, and you want to drink it every day. The caffeinated drink may represent the addictive nature of her music, as well as the omnipresence of her song on morning playlists.
Sabrina Carpenter said that the song Espresso is about “femininity as a superpower” in a world that doesn’t always see it that way. And as the song that took over the world earlier this summer, it’s definitely super!
The coffee motif also features on her tour, as Sabrina holds up a smoking cup of coffee while waking up her backup dancers during the encore as she performs the hit song. Everyone loves a good cup of coffee, and the coffee-inspired song catapulted Sabrina to worldwide fame. Here’s to more “me espresso!”
HEARTS
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Continuing with the flirty and coquettish theme, Sabrina features plenty of hearts in the visual theming of Short ‘n Sweet, and has been using it as a main motif since the emails I can’t send era. They even feature in lyrics on the album, such as “I’m sweet like an angel, drawing hearts ‘round our names” on Good Graces.
Sabrina has gone viral for her heart-shaped corsets and sweetheart tops, which fits considering that she sings with her heart sometimes literally on her sleeve. Her songs are primarily about love – whether that’s chasing love, being loved, wanting to be loved, or wanting to be adored, held, and explored.
The hearts are a physical manifestation of this, in a beautiful impressionist way that happens to make amazing outfits. You can’t live without it, so it’s the most powerful drug of all, and even the gods cower before it – love and lust. Her iconic heart-shaped corsets, tops, and outfits could also be a nod to the goddess of love Aphrodite’s domain. (We think the goddess would love her songs)
In the emails I can’t send era, the heart with lights represented her optimism about love – which was crushed like glass during the music video Because I Liked a Boy. Then they turned on again. And now Sabrina’s hearts are taking over the world in Short ‘n Sweet. Sabrina’s brand of unapologetically fun and soaring pop music like in Juno and Good Graces is sure to make any heart dance.
HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR
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Vintage fashion, diamonds, headscarves, big sunglasses and other vintage (and retro) accessories feature prominently in Sabrina’s music videos. Her embrace of old fashions is in sharp contrast to her wonderfully modern views and unapologetic femininity.
She doesn’t stay quiet about things people believe women should be silent about, she is sex-positive, she says what’s on her mind without fear, her humor is dry and devastatingly witty, and she defies norms with ease. While she wears clothing from the 50s and draws from their glamour, her attitude is anything but which makes for a striking contrast.
Sabrina has notoriously dry humor, rather than being the energetic, ditzy blonde that people expect. Some would say that what the Tradwives do on TikTok embrace both the fashion and the mindset, which is a topic that deserves its own article. In a world where femininity is unfairly judged, policed, restricted, and even banned – she isn’t afraid to be herself.
FUN SLEEPOVER VIBES
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A playful reminder that Sabrina Carpenter is primarily for the girls! Yes, she performs and dances in lingerie and lace- but it’s not for the male gaze. Sabrina’s lowkey superpwoer is that she is good at embracing her sexuality and being a bit more playful with her styling choices, but in a way that isn’t meant for the satisfaction of men or their attention.
It’s pink, fun, and it’s for anyone who’s ever been looked down or insulted for being fun, frilly, and feminine. In fact, her songs are known for singing right past the male addressee to a female confidante, as explained in the article The ‘Espresso’ theory of Gender Relations from The Atlantic. Like Espresso’s knowing tongue-in-cheek performance of femininity that’s like “Girls, watch me finesse this man, then let’s go shopping!” The fact that it’s a running joke that most of the men in Sabrina’s music videos die while the women survive is a nod to this as well.
In Slim Pickins, she laments to all the girls who can’t find the one since “all the good ones are diseased or taken, I’ll just keep on moaning and bitching.” She hilariously and relatably slides from “a boy who’s jacked and kind” to “a boy who’s nice and breathes.”
Her tours are also known for being safe spaces for her fans, whether she’s asking them about their love lives and commenting on them, doling out advice, or creating a cozy atmosphere while singing songs from Mamma Mia. She also flipped the “un-girls’ girl” message of Taste by making the two girls fighting over a guy turn on the guy who turned them against each other. Sabrina’s a real girl’s girl, and we love that for her.
As Sabrina began this new era of hers, the mission was clear. She is now more able to control her image, songs, and brand. She picked herself up and learned to use the media’s portrayal of her to her advantage to give us a blonde starlet persona juxtaposed with her sharp writing, and her unique brand of humor. All this to say, Sabrina did that for a chapter of her career to remember.
Continue Reading: Unbothered, Sabrina Carpenter Has Been In The Spotlight All Her Life
