Taylor Swift’s First Big Purchase Was Inspired by ‘Mean Girls’… and Mean Girls

Like any 16-year-old would, when Taylor Swift received her first paycheck in 2006, she bought a car. But the rising country music star didn't want to buy just any car. Inspired by the 2004 movie 'Mean Girls' -- and feeling a little angst about being bullied by the mean girls in her own school days -- Swift splurged on the exact car that lead bully Regina George drives in the film.

In 'Mean Girls,' George (Rachel McAdams) is the ringleader of a group of girls called "the Plastics." The fearsome foursome notoriously terrorize quiet, less popular girls at their school, which is something many young girls can relate to. If that sounds familiar, you must have been listening to Swift's self-titled debut in 2006. Songs like 'The Outside' were written when she felt alienated from her peers.

"All the girls who were mean to me in middle school idolized the Plastics," Taylor tells the Guardian. "I chose that car as a kind of rebellion against that type of girl. It was like -- you guys never invited me to anything, you guys are obsessed with that car, that girl, what the Plastics wear and how they talk and you quote them all the time, but I've been working really hard every single day."

Since it was early in her career, it took Swift a little time and a lot of hard work to save up for the Lexus SC430 convertible. "And instead of going to parties, I've been writing songs and playing shows and getting these really small pay checks that have added up and now I get to buy a car," she explained. "And guess which one I'm going to buy? The one that the girl you idolize has."

The 'Begin Again' hitmaker isn't bitter, though. She has admitted several times in the press that her struggles have helped her to get her where she is today... sitting on top of the country and pop music charts. Take that, mean girls.