Taylor Swift’s “Dress” Isn’t About Ed Sheeran, According To Ed Sheeran

Since Taylor's Swift's highly anticipated sixth album, Reputation, finally dropped last Friday, fans have been speculating about who her songs are about. But now, one thing is for sure — her "End Game" collaborator isn't one of them. Ed Sheeran has confirmed "Dress" isn't about him, as BuzzFeed reports, so cross that name off of your list of potential subjects.

If you pay close attention to the steamy lyrics, you know that as part of the chorus, Swift sings, "I don't want you like a best friend." While it's true that she and Sheeran have been close since he first opened for her on the Red tour in 2013, he's not the best friend she mentions in the song — at least, not according to the "Castle on the Hill" singer himself.

While talking to Augustman on Instagram Live this week, Sheeran was asked about the song and quickly denied everything, pointing out the most damning piece of evidence that proves it couldn't possibly be about him: the fact that Swift also mentions a "buzz cut" in the song, and that's something Sheeran didn't (and doesn't) have. And judging by the smile on his face, it seems like he thinks it's a little ridiculous that anyone thought Swift was writing about him.

"I don't think it is," he said. "I think if you read into it, it's not that. She mentions someone with a buzz cut haircut and I've never had a buzz cut haircut."

Sheeran's right. His red hair is pretty memorable, so fans would never forget him shaving it off. And since Swift is very intentional with the details she includes in her lyrics, it's not likely she'd include something so specific if it wasn't true about the person she had in mind when she wrote the song.

So, if this isn't about Sheeran, who could it possibly be about? The most likely subject is Swift's current boyfriend, Joe Alwyn — and not just because "Dress" is very clearly a love song. He used to have a buzz cut himself, which is important when you consider that the full line about her man's hair is "flash back when you met me, your buzz cut and my hair bleached."

The night Swift met Alwyn? Yeah, supposedly at the 2016 Met Gala, when his hair was buzzed and hers was, in fact, bleached. Neither of them look like this today, so it makes sense that she'd describe them this way when she's looking back on the beginning of their relationship.

This photo reveals all. Look:

Of course, there's no way to definitively say she wrote "Dress" about Alwyn — not without Swift admitting it herself, anyway — but at least now we know that Sheeran isn't an option. (And, according to some people who attended Swift's pre-album release listening sessions, she did say that the love songs on the album are about Alwyn.) The fact that Swift said "best friend" in the song doesn't have to literally mean someone she considers a best friend, because she's trying to convey that the kind of love she's singing about isn't friendship, but romance.

Sorry to fans who have been hoping that Swift and Sheeran would end up together eventually, but it seems like all is platonic between them. Besides, Swift does seem to be really happy with Alwyn, and Sheeran's been dating girlfriend Cherry Seaborn for more than two years. There's definitely nothing going on behind the scenes here.

If you ever need to get your Sweeran on, there's always their duet, "Everything Has Changed" from Swift's Red. And now that fans know their collaboration with Future on "End Game" totally lived up to expectations on Reputation, we can only hope that they work together in the future, too — but probably just as BFFs.