Last week, Taylor Swift posted 5 pictures from her recent photo shoot with GQ magazine on her Instagram account. My initial reaction was: “Wow! She looks so sexy!” and proceeded to double tap the picture, making me probably the 998,095 person to like the picture (but who’s counting, right?). But then I stopped, scrolled back up and had a second thought: “Wow, she’s so sexy and she’s got clothes on”.

Now this article isn’t about whether or not being on GQ magazine should be a girl’s dream, it’s about how women can be sexy without being (basically) naked. When we’re stuck between Kim K and her ridiculous nude shoot earlier this year and Selena’s recent and very exposing Revival album cover (anyone else cringe a little at that one?) Taylor is a breath of fresh air.

Confidence is key here. I highly doubt Taylor covers-up in these photographs because she’s uncomfortable with her body. She has every reason to show it off! Who wouldn’t kill for those beautiful long legs and super-cute flat tummy? When every other girl in America has a girl crush and a most guys want to date her, she can’t downplay her own popularity.

Personally, I think Taylor knows exactly what she’s doing. She sees the same magazine covers we see in the grocery store, she knows that a little more skin gets a lot more media attention. So why cover up?

Maybe it was her idea and maybe it wasn’t, but there’s no doubt that pictures like hers leave so much to be desired. Should that be the goal of “sexy”, to leave something to be imagination? If it is, then she definitely hit the mark. Somehow, in not revealing every little detail, Taylor still keeps us interested. Women still want to be just like her, because she’s still beautiful even with a sweater and a full-coverage bikini. Guys would still kill to date her. The less focus on her body, the more we wonder what she’s thinking. By keeping it classy, she has us considering her intelligence, her beauty (not her hotness), her disregard for celebrity norms.

While I won’t ever be asked to be on the cover of GQ, if in another world I was famous and America wanted me to have a spot on every checkout counter of Target, I hope I’d follow her lead. I hope I would remember there’s more to me than skin and legs and require America look deeper than the surface to understand my values. I hope that I would be brave enough to be different and fight against the assumption that less is sexy and more is frumpy. Confidence and smarts and attitude is sexy too, not just a bikini that’s 4 sizes two small.

So think about this ladies, next time you’re looking through the closet desperately looking for something to make you stand out, pull a Taylor and go for something different. Drop the crop top, lay down the lacy shorts and grab something that gives you a little mystery, something that proves you’re worth the second glance, even if it means there’s a little less skin to be seen.