Sometimes, in a rare moment, we get a glimpse of a celebrity’s true self. We get a look at the face behind the magazine cover, the calm before the storm of fame hits, and the places that they called home before gracing the stage to the praise and criticism of billions.
For Taylor Swift, this rarity lies in a small bedroom in Reading, Pennsylvania, an area surrounded by country lands and pine trees. It's an area of quiet where the roaring concert crowds are replaced by a small church and a local ice-cream shop.
At one time, there wasn’t the world-wide pop sensation known as “Taylor Swift,” only a young, curly-haired girl with a guitar.
Vogue Reporter Jason Gay, follows Swift back down these nostalgic paths of her childhood to give readers of the magazine insight into Taylor Swift’s life in the “before.” Not only is it sentimental and surprising, but it’s also beautiful and Gay captures that emotion perfectly throughout the entire piece.
The feature revolved loosely around when Swift was chosen as the Maid of Honor in her childhood friend’s wedding, Britany Maack. Gay touched on what it was like visiting Taylor’s past home, now occupied by the new owners Dave and Debbie Schaeffer, and taking a walk through her old room in a more hidden corner of the house.
Later, she attended Maack’s wedding as an anxious bridesmaid rather than a superstar, smoothing the bride’s dress down before the ceremony.
A defining interest presented in the article is Swift’s ever-changing, but classical style.
When asked if she would ever create her own fashion line, Swift told Gay, “Theoretically, yes,” later saying in relation to parts of her childhood, “Going through different phases is one of my favorite things about fashion. I love how it can mark the passage of time. It’s similar to my songs in that way — it all helps identify where I was at in different points of my life.”
For the cover of Vogue, highlighting the feature, Swift’s hair is bleached, contrasting with her bright red lips.
Aside from her well-known style and her small-town childhood, Swift also shared with Gay how she wishes to keep her now love with Calvin Harris private, even using the word “magical” to describe their relationship.
There was a moment after the wedding when Gay asked Swift what she had planned for the future and, for the first time in a decade, she didn’t have a clear answer.
She told Gay in Vogue, “This is the first time in 10 years that I haven’t known. I just decided that after the past year, with all of the unbelievable things that happened ... I decided I was going to live my life a little bit without the pressure on myself to create something.”
In the article, she revealed to Gay that, although she will still make music and be creative, she has some short-term goals that she wishes to accomplish like “to be able to save somebody if they are drowning.”
Aside from everything, in the end, Gay brought Swift to light in her most raw form: singing “Shake It Off” at her best friend’s wedding, enjoying the present moment for the beauty that it has, and doing the one thing that she does best: just being herself.
Read the full article here.
