Announcing her masters
Worn On: 5/30/25 // instagram
the commentary
I wanted to take my time and sit with Taylor’s announcement of her masters acquisition as we celebrate what a win this is. For Taylor, of course. For fans, naturally. And for artists as a collective moving forward.
In relistening to her discography, a pipeline of quotes came rushing at me. They reminded me how long this battle has been for her and, poetically, how much of her work contains inadvertent nuggets of wisdom that helped her play the long game to get to this moment. Her innate trust in herself, despite odds or norms.
“I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past.”
“He’s got my past, frozen behind glass. But I’ve got me.”
“Give me back my girlhood it was mine first.”
“Without your past, you could never have arrived so wondrously and brutally. By design or some violent, exquisite happenstance … here.”
“These hands had to let it go free and this love came back to me.”
“The best things that have ever been mine … finally actually are.”
I found myself appreciating the images she used to mark the news. No background, no distractions, no hints at the next thing. There’s no need. Outfitted in a neutral and largely inconspicuous outfit. Most details are obscured by her body position and camera angles. Just her and her life’s work. Her seated cross-legged reminds me of her statement following the original sale of her masters in 2019 when she described her art as “music I wrote on my bedroom floor.” Here, placed similarly and finally owning that music feels full circle. The things that “pop” the most are her face and albums. I see this as centering this moment and soaking in that victory. And somehow it really was everything.
the clothes
Feature Photo by David Eulitt via Getty Images