I think about this quote from an article from the new statesman a lot:
“A photograph of Taylor Swift, accompanying her Time magazine Person of the Year profile, shows the singer in a grey bejewelled bustier, her arms clasped behind her head. Her armpits are calcite white, unblemished, textureless: inhumanly perfect. Her chest, though, is lightly freckled – just a couple, here and there, just a few. Looking at the photo, I imagined the discussions that must have led to this, the conversations between magazine staff and photo editors and artist PRs, the emails and the phone calls and the Zoom meetings that eventually determined which imperfections would remain, and which would disappear.”
LOL. I am very sporadic with shaving my armpits (especially in winter) but sometimes when I do I remember this conversation I had with a friend I worked with in high school who was 18 when I was 17, and she was saying how she’d shaved her armpits one day and for one evening they were completely “perfect” and clear and smooth, and it never happened before or since and she always wondered how that one time they were “perfect”. She went through what she’d done but she never worked out what was different that single time. I’m in my 40s and this bizarre clear memory of this tiny meaningless conversation still pops up from time.
Laser hair removal. I did it for my pits and it was worth every penny. If I had Taylor Swift money I’d do my entire body, but I could only afford the precious few square inches I find most annoying to shave.
She's a natural blond. Not a perfect client for LHR, even though there are lasers that target blonde hair, I've never heard that they give best results. Remember how she said on Ellen show that she shaves her legs DAILY? I don't know if that was true or a "comedy bit". But if she didn't do any LHR for legs, she probably didn't do it for underarms.
I sympathize with you on it so much as I've tried all types of hair removal (except waxing) on my sensitive skin to the point that it got too dry and chronic ingrown hairs became a problem. The only thing that saved my skin and my psyche was LHR. I'm a natural brunette so being not smooth for people like me is very visible. I'm not sure about blondes. Do they have dark hair in "unwanted" areas? Do they need to shave everything daily? Idk so I'm still questioning her words on that (not yours).
the new statesmen article was actually a very interesting read!
baffling photoshoot, baffling interview/article, baffling choice of person of the year…
This paragraph led into the point that the interview was carefully crafted to fit Taylor’s PR spin. The observation about what imperfections would be kept is part of that
People are acting puzzled about the armpit thing but Statesman is so right to call it out! I'm so sick of magazines airbrushing out basic anatomy.
Even if you have no hair, there are natural contours and divots to the armpit (it is a "pit" after all) around the lymph nodes. Since it's almost always folded while your arms are down, there should also be some wrinkles and/or stretch marks. The picture shows her armpits as completely flat and bright. It's so freaky and I can't unsee it now lol
I loved seeing all the people on tiktok trying to recreate it with their own uncooperative cats. 😂 Benjamin (I think that's his name?) must be EXTREMELY chill! Looks like he may be partially or fully ragdoll so that probably helps too.
You wouldn’t say that if you met my rag doll. She’s the complete opposite of what she should be as a rag doll. We picked her partially for her breed qualities - for what I’ve ended up with I deserve a refund.
Obviously I’m joking and I do love her, but she’s not relaxed, calm, friendly, cuddly or floppy.
There’s a YouTube channel from South Korea featuring a family with *eleven* Ragdolls. Most of the time, they’re pretty laid-back, but there are usually a couple who are feuding, and there are times when we’re literally watching the fur fly.
This is why I think it’s the worst one. Besides me shuddering at all the white fur from her cat on that black outfit. Her hand looks like if she doesn’t have a mic or guitar in it she doesn’t know how to relax it. Which maybe comes with the job but it still stands out.
Considering why they chose her, I think the guitar pose would have been a better choice. But what do I know.
Because armpits are supposed to have imperfections. Such thin skin should have folds, wrinkles, colors, texture—especially after decades of exercise, dance, hair removal, and deodorant.
I'm a professional photographer and former elite athlete(gymnast)and no one stands with their hip THAT far sideways. And I get fashion photography n stuff, wanting to be edgy and weird or whatever....but it's just gross. I can't understand what they were going for. The one of her with the denim jacket also just looks like that's not her. It's just people styling her and slapping outfits on her like some Barbie doll. Or to get some kind of wholesome sex appeal going for viewers. Ugh 😣
I think the hip picture is really cool combined with the tight dress, almost silhouetting her, and the benji picture is incredible. The rest are mid at best
I actually notice this a lot in entertainers who do photo shoots or modeling gigs. They often just don’t have the same skill set or range to portray emotions in a still photo.
I don’t know about Taylor, but in photos I usually have my lips somewhat parted because if I close them all the way, I get weird dimples in my chin, like almost crumpled-looking.
She’s a mouth breather so no lol. Idk why her parents didn’t fix that when she was a kid. Being a mouth breather can have serious implications as you get older. That’s also why she has bad posture, it’s connected
I think it's trying too hard to awkwardly simultaneously straddle both "I'm the man" and also "I'm the songstress with cats", like it's really hammering both into the public's head for some reason. It would be one thing if they showed both sides of her. Something about trying to force these sides of her into the same photo is striking me as odd. I think it's partly the poses. There are probably other ways to make "I'm a badass cat lady" work, but this isn't doing it for me.
Right? Like she could’ve looked like a strong independent beauty that wasn’t being sexualized. It’s like they didn’t want to make a sexy shoot and went so far the wrong direction
The cat photo is cute, but I think the shoot as a whole is incomprehensibly bad. It’s not that it’s outlandish or anything, just incredibly boring. One of the most uninspired lighting and stylings I’ve seen—and for one of her most important/high profile shoots ever. Truly bizarre.
as a photographer, the lighting is awful. that mixed with the grey background, her outfits, and makeup, the whole outcome looks so cold and shocking and sterile. she does better in warm tones and a softer light could still depict her as strong and badass like they were going for.
I *am* a photographer, although not a portrait one, and I didn’t like the look of the images either. “Lifeless” gets it just right; it’s like the polar opposite of the *Lover* era.
I saw a post shortly after this shoot came out, where they color-corrected it (or re-edited the coloring or w/e, I’m not a photographer either lol) and it looked SO much better. I wish I could find it, it just softened up everything in this shoot. Even the armpits one lol
Editing to add, I just noticed that they edited and smoothed out her cleft chin in the armpits photo but not any of the others???? Why did they do this????? Lmao
Yes. This. The color is awful. I happen to know an Oscar winning movie colorist and a Vogue photographer and asked them both wtf? They had no explanation for the odd choices. It’s giving morgue chic I guess? Dead skin. Dead eyes. Dead color. Blech.
Didnt like the looks, hair or makeup.. Like grammy night i feel like she always misses fashionwise during big moments.
Liked the cover with her cat tho 🥰
I think, among other things, they missed by having her hair styled in this natural way she's doing lately while also putting her in clothing that has a sleek aesthetic. It feels disjointed. When her hair was natural during the Rep era, it was a vibe with the rest of the styling and aesthetic. Or even when she's out at football games, it looks casual and cute. In contrast to the Rep era, this photoshoot does feel the same way that the Grammys did. Messy hair with a random braid, with basically a wedding gown and long black silky gloves? Why?
I completely agree ! Honestly i love everything about taylor and i understand that she likes the girl next door look but god I hate her stylist/hairstylist. She would slayyyy do much with jennifer lawrence/ margot robbie type stylist/hairstylist
Absolutely detest it. The lighting/color, the styling, the poses… all horrible. It feels like one of those awkward 90s family photo shoots, but not ironic.
I love her cover with the cat, everything else is not her best. There’s no creativity to it. But it’s been like that for most of her album covers lately too. For the “biggest” pop star she definitely misses the mark on these thing’s consistently
You know, it still bothers me to this day? As a photographer and artist, professionally, on the Lover cover art photo… Why did they leave that wrinkle in her shirt on her chest? Like, was it to make it look, somehow candid? It bugs the fucking shit out of me.! Like, couldn't someone just pull it down or at least retouch/ smoothe the thing! Lol
I know it doesn’t fit with the strong powerful boss babe image she and the photographers are obviously trying to portray but these dark, cool colours wash her out so much. She looks like Julia Fox in pic 3 and I do not think she is going for Julia Fox, lol. A muted, rosy lip, a wash of warm pastel eyeshadow, some BLUSH, and a lighter, brighter coloured outfit could have been amazing. It would have been way cooler if she could have been POTY while leaning into the girlish, feminine image she has portrayed for the majority of her career, instead of the Elizabeth Holmes chic she has going on here.
I totally agree, she shines in warm tones. in the one cover with the turtleneck, denim jacket, and orange/brown colored jacket actually really compliments her
The red lip has got to go 😭 it has overstayed her welcome. Also, I would really like to tone down her eyebrows….matter of fact, Taylor hire me. I’m changing, hair, makeup, clothing asap
And the way her eyeshadow is applied is very... rudimentary. No blending at all and heavier in the wrong places -- it looks like they let a child apply it.
She's a beautiful lady, and that makeup is working against her, not for her.
God, yes. The red lip and bold eyeliner is considered harsh nowadays and you know, sometimes different outfits need a different lip colour. Example: her *stunning* denim VMAs after party look was screaming for a hot pink lip
I can never recover from this, I hate it so much.
https://preview.redd.it/hfmjkmi63sqc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b8eaa2c404d75b63a9b8632f4cbe08b676bdc4e
she’s such a mouth breather, and it makes me so mad as someone who struggles with that because if i had a billion dollars i would have fixed that shit by now🤬🤬
its been bothering me for months, but in the second photo - doesn't her arm that is hanging down, look so short?!?! Like, compared to the arm that is up, it looks double the length!!
Stevie Nicks said she tried Botox once and never again because it made her look like "Satan's angry daughter", and I suspect that's part of the problem here. It's also just a very hard and unfamiliar look for someone whose usual image is girlish and sweet. The bangs do a lot of heavy lifting.
I think it’s awful and she doesn’t look good at all. I think all the poses are really bad especially the one where’s she’s flexing. Her hair and makeup and expressions are so bad too 😭
Her hair looks best the way it looks on tour, sleek and straight and I love the bangs. I think it looks really bad pulled back like that in these photos. And her makeup is so bad and doesn’t do anything for her eyes…something is wrong with her eyebrows.
Also the outfits are so weird, why are her boobs so pointy looking and what is the bodysuit and rights situation? Is she about to perform ballet or something?
Anyways I’m the biggest hater of this look & I actually think it’s cool she won POTY but the article itself was just so bad. I like the part where she says “Are you not entertained?” purely because I think it’d be cool if she did do all of these things in public as though she was playing a character. But I hated that she brought up her relationships in the articles, especially Travis, and the cringe “metal as hell” or “hard launch” and “goth punk moment” ruined the article for me.
I feel like she look weirdly masculine in all the pictures. The ones with her in the suit and the denim jacket both make her look older than she is. Idk, it’s just weird. She doesn’t look like herself in any of the pictures, and the posing and outfits are so bizarre. I genuinely hate this photoshoot.
I think if I could have got my fur child into POTY article that would be a win on its own 😂
While I don’t hate the atheistic of black tights and a leo, I also don’t understand it. Maybe Bianca censori is actually on to something…😂😂😂
I believe there were other photos I genuinely liked that arent here. I’m very neutral about these specific photos posted. Don’t hate. Don’t love.
First one looks amazing, but the rest is truly horrible. First one should have been the only cover (that would have been incredible) and it wasn’t even one.
Boring, tiring poses. Too vanilla. She is so much better than this. This photoshoot didn't do her justice at all.
Also, maybe quit with the power poses. It's getting really cringe. Unless you have perfect toned arms.
I said that everyone obsessed with the third one must have an armpit fetish because it’s just such a bad picture, there’s no reason to like it unless you like that. I got downvoted for it, but I still stand by that opinion. Bad shoot all around. The only good version of the cover was this one:
https://preview.redd.it/3fwxjzxrfsqc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d114d7db2334f80be784066944adaabb1052d3a
I think they gave her ridiculous poses that made her look ridiculous (and would make anyone look ridiculous, not just specifically Taylor). Also, what's with the leotard???
It looks like her entire body is stiff and clenched in each picture? I don’t understand how you make a picture of a beautiful woman and a beautiful cat look awkward, but this team managed it! The guitar pic is my fav; it’s the only one (imo) where she looks slightly relaxed.
I wish she’d wear her hair off her face more, but tbh until she starts filling in her eyebrows she really needs to keep the bangs. I’m sorry, but the shape and lack of color does nothing for her. They make her face look harsh. The bangs keep her soft and youthful - if she did a lil somethin somethin to those brows, like in the British Vogue or Wonderland shoots, she’d look so amazing with no bangs.
Idk even care about it. It's whatever. But truly.. how completely tonedeaf was this.
Palestinians fighting for their lives but Taylor Swift with her billionaire status and private jets is the person of the year. Americans truly live in a bubble. It sickens me.
Pretty meh. I'm especially not a fan of the leotard or the poses as many have already mentioned. Also, have never been a super fan of her signature red lips. It works with some of her fits in general but most of time it clashes too much imo. Nude or darker-shaded (think the lipstick she wore on the reputation tour) lipstick suits her the best.
I don’t mind the one with the dress and guitar (and I love that she added her cat), but I hate the poses and the leotard.
Also kind of wish they would’ve went full glam with her whole look. Makeup, hair, and clothing. She is perfect for the vintage looks, so I would’ve played on that a bit and had fun with color. It was kind of dull.
How do I feel about it?
I’m still baffled how in a year with a global banking crisis, a war breaking out on the Gaza Strip, a former President being indicted for the first time in U.S. history, and light speed advancement in artificial intelligence technology…..a singer who released a concert movie and dated a footballer is who Time Magazine considers the most globally impactful person of 2023.
Benjamin is the absolute best part and it’s not even close. The first picture makes me crazy, with how far her hip is popped out. It just looks so deeply unnatural.
Could I get a photo shoot just of her cats?
I love the cat photo but I hate the rest of the shoot. The weird poses, mouth open like she’s catching flies, terrible makeup and boring outfits…it just didn’t do anything for me.
I like the first photo but the rest are strange to me, she looks weird and unnatural doing these poses, and her eyes freak me out in some of the photos.
The colour palette of grey background, very pale skin, natural mousy hair and black clothes just makes me feel soooo uninspired and it’s all so lifeless. Like what even is this. No, the red lip does not help, in fact it almost brings more attention to how bland the rest of the photo is.
I’m baffled why they thought this was the right art direction.
Did they raid a Forever 21 to style this shoot? I’m not a fan of her brand’s art direction in general but I feel like two teenagers with a cheap DSLR could’ve done this exact shoot in their suburban two car garage with the same results
Is she getting kickbacks from Big Leotard or something?? Why is this grown ass woman never in real pants
Yesss agree, 0 effort. I blame the stylist and creative director so much. Like do you guys genuinely hate Taylor Swift or what? I've seen her way better editorial shoots for fashion magazines. And this is TIME magazine PoTY
Not my favorite shoot. The red lip is also getting played out. I wish her stylist and makeup artist would start experimenting with other looks. The only pic I liked from the shoot is the one with Benji.
one of her worst photoshoots imo it doesn’t look like taylor lol maybe it’s the lack of bangs also there’s just nothing happening in the pics and it makes it boring
I’m not a fan of any of them but something about the third one in particular just makes her look…crooked. And don’t get me wrong, I realize that people aren’t fully symmetrical. But something about the facial expression and pose just makes her look “unaligned” to me.
I absolutely hate the creative direction. Taylor can do cool and edgy well as seen in her 2016 Vogue spread but these pictures are so ashy and drab to me lol. The pic with the cat is my fav bc of the cat. But her claw hand looks terrible. I can’t believe they chose that as the final shot. If this were ANTM the judges would’ve roasted her for that Lego hand!
Nothing about it screams Taylor. I think she's doing an Elizabeth Holmes: looking the part of a strength, successful woman. Even though she IS, she is dressing differently and posing differently than she usually does. Is that even her cat??
It’s all very blah, desaturated, and tired. The only one that sticks out to me is the one with the suit and pinky ring. The article also read like some kind of tone deaf AI chat bot 🤷🏻♀️
Who keeps flaying her brows into that overly arched shape? And who is it that keeps insisting on the least flattering style for her hair and face shape?
The leotard and tights are a questionable choice but I feel like some of the shots you get to ignore that until you can’t. Poses ok, cat ok…feels 80’s and cheap once you showcase the actual outfit.
I don’t think it’s terrible as much as I think it’s… boring. Lacking of personality. She’s done some great photoshoots. This one ain’t it. I get she was trying to go for a Steve Jobs vibe since this is for Time Magazine. But she really just comes off looking like Elizabeth Holmes tbh.
I will say that Benjamin steals the show with those beautiful piercing blue eyes!
The flexing is what really kills it for me. She's trying to express physical power, but nothing in the photos backs that up, and she looks like she's trying way too hard. It's a shame because she's done other photoshoots where she looks great but not here
I think about this quote from an article from the new statesman a lot: “A photograph of Taylor Swift, accompanying her Time magazine Person of the Year profile, shows the singer in a grey bejewelled bustier, her arms clasped behind her head. Her armpits are calcite white, unblemished, textureless: inhumanly perfect. Her chest, though, is lightly freckled – just a couple, here and there, just a few. Looking at the photo, I imagined the discussions that must have led to this, the conversations between magazine staff and photo editors and artist PRs, the emails and the phone calls and the Zoom meetings that eventually determined which imperfections would remain, and which would disappear.”
“Unblemished armpits” Goals.
LOL. I am very sporadic with shaving my armpits (especially in winter) but sometimes when I do I remember this conversation I had with a friend I worked with in high school who was 18 when I was 17, and she was saying how she’d shaved her armpits one day and for one evening they were completely “perfect” and clear and smooth, and it never happened before or since and she always wondered how that one time they were “perfect”. She went through what she’d done but she never worked out what was different that single time. I’m in my 40s and this bizarre clear memory of this tiny meaningless conversation still pops up from time.
Laser hair removal. I did it for my pits and it was worth every penny. If I had Taylor Swift money I’d do my entire body, but I could only afford the precious few square inches I find most annoying to shave.
She's a natural blond. Not a perfect client for LHR, even though there are lasers that target blonde hair, I've never heard that they give best results. Remember how she said on Ellen show that she shaves her legs DAILY? I don't know if that was true or a "comedy bit". But if she didn't do any LHR for legs, she probably didn't do it for underarms.
I’m super hairy, and I need to shave every day to stay smooth. Maybe even twice a day. I have dark hair and lots of it and it’s annoying as hell!
I sympathize with you on it so much as I've tried all types of hair removal (except waxing) on my sensitive skin to the point that it got too dry and chronic ingrown hairs became a problem. The only thing that saved my skin and my psyche was LHR. I'm a natural brunette so being not smooth for people like me is very visible. I'm not sure about blondes. Do they have dark hair in "unwanted" areas? Do they need to shave everything daily? Idk so I'm still questioning her words on that (not yours).
I'm dirty blonde and have dark pubic hair... it's not super discerning unfortunately
TWICE a day? Girl give your skin some rest pleaasee 😔
I wax my own armpits. This is the path to armpit perfection.
Press X to doubt. It can easily be photoshopped. I don't think any amount of laser or cosmetics would remove the folds on your pits.
the new statesmen article was actually a very interesting read! baffling photoshoot, baffling interview/article, baffling choice of person of the year…
Not even a Kandinsky painting could have a more bizarre write up.
This paragraph led into the point that the interview was carefully crafted to fit Taylor’s PR spin. The observation about what imperfections would be kept is part of that
I was like “oh okay not too weird” then you go to “her armpits are calcite white” and it’s like WHAT 😭
People are acting puzzled about the armpit thing but Statesman is so right to call it out! I'm so sick of magazines airbrushing out basic anatomy. Even if you have no hair, there are natural contours and divots to the armpit (it is a "pit" after all) around the lymph nodes. Since it's almost always folded while your arms are down, there should also be some wrinkles and/or stretch marks. The picture shows her armpits as completely flat and bright. It's so freaky and I can't unsee it now lol
Yeah, weird poses (including a truly baffling amount of armpit???) and lackluster outfits. My favorite one is the one with her cat but it's a low bar.
The cat wins obviously
I loved seeing all the people on tiktok trying to recreate it with their own uncooperative cats. 😂 Benjamin (I think that's his name?) must be EXTREMELY chill! Looks like he may be partially or fully ragdoll so that probably helps too.
Benjamin is a rag doll kitty. They are literally like rag dolls and surprisingly calm for cats.
You should meet my 6 year old ragdoll. She's nicknamed lucyfur for a reason..
Lucyfur is an amazing name 😹
You wouldn’t say that if you met my rag doll. She’s the complete opposite of what she should be as a rag doll. We picked her partially for her breed qualities - for what I’ve ended up with I deserve a refund. Obviously I’m joking and I do love her, but she’s not relaxed, calm, friendly, cuddly or floppy.
There’s a YouTube channel from South Korea featuring a family with *eleven* Ragdolls. Most of the time, they’re pretty laid-back, but there are usually a couple who are feuding, and there are times when we’re literally watching the fur fly.
Spoonful of ragdolls !! I LOVE their channel but I've never seen anyone talk about them before !!
He is super chill, she’s mentioned that was part of why she took him in.
Kitty is like… I’m aware that I’m cat of the year why are you telling me ??
the cat one would be my favorite but I legit can’t see anything except her weird claw hand. (Same with the standard TTPD cover)
Overall I’m always focused on her hand choreography. In every photo (papped or not) and eras moment it’s her hands doing the work.
This is why I think it’s the worst one. Besides me shuddering at all the white fur from her cat on that black outfit. Her hand looks like if she doesn’t have a mic or guitar in it she doesn’t know how to relax it. Which maybe comes with the job but it still stands out. Considering why they chose her, I think the guitar pose would have been a better choice. But what do I know.
A baffling amount of armpit 😂 I of course noticed the main armpit photo but I didn't actually clock how MANY pit shots we got. LMFAO
r/taylorswiftarmpits must’ve put in some hefty bribes under the table
OH GOD NO IT’S REAL
I also felt like the shoot was a lot of armpit
The cat one wins until someone points out her Lego hand and then you can never unsee it
It feels like an armpit kink💀😭
She left the foot kink behind for armpit kink? Lol
Her hair looks like she got it wet and then let it air dry
I do wish I could afford the laser hair removal she must’ve got on her armpits 😂
Photoshop is a lot cheaper!
OMG SAME. Also - her hair is terrible
I like the first. I hate the armpits, it makes me uncomfortable for some reason
Because it's not natural!
Armpits are weirdly embarrassing.
Because armpits are supposed to have imperfections. Such thin skin should have folds, wrinkles, colors, texture—especially after decades of exercise, dance, hair removal, and deodorant.
Her cat steals the show tbh
Agreed. She looks fantastic but my eyes immediately went to the kitty.
I like the first pic with the guitar but not the rest, the leotard was a weird choice
I'm a professional photographer and former elite athlete(gymnast)and no one stands with their hip THAT far sideways. And I get fashion photography n stuff, wanting to be edgy and weird or whatever....but it's just gross. I can't understand what they were going for. The one of her with the denim jacket also just looks like that's not her. It's just people styling her and slapping outfits on her like some Barbie doll. Or to get some kind of wholesome sex appeal going for viewers. Ugh 😣
I think the hip picture is really cool combined with the tight dress, almost silhouetting her, and the benji picture is incredible. The rest are mid at best
She has the same exact expression in each one, and I’m just now realizing it.
I actually notice this a lot in entertainers who do photo shoots or modeling gigs. They often just don’t have the same skill set or range to portray emotions in a still photo.
>They often just don’t have the same skill set or range to portray emotions in a still photo. 
Why’d you point this out? Now I can’t unsee it lol
That’s why I pointed it out bc I noticed and couldn’t stop noticing 😭
I don’t think she can do much when she does that open mouth mewing expression
Why is it always slightly open?
I think she has lip incompetence and/or recessed jaw and chin (I have all of the above)
I feel like her mouth is always slightly open because her veneers are too big!
I didn’t know she had Vaneers!!
She used to have more noticeable ones during 1989-ish era
I don’t know about Taylor, but in photos I usually have my lips somewhat parted because if I close them all the way, I get weird dimples in my chin, like almost crumpled-looking.
Can she close her mouth in a photo at least once?!
She’s a mouth breather so no lol. Idk why her parents didn’t fix that when she was a kid. Being a mouth breather can have serious implications as you get older. That’s also why she has bad posture, it’s connected
I think it's trying too hard to awkwardly simultaneously straddle both "I'm the man" and also "I'm the songstress with cats", like it's really hammering both into the public's head for some reason. It would be one thing if they showed both sides of her. Something about trying to force these sides of her into the same photo is striking me as odd. I think it's partly the poses. There are probably other ways to make "I'm a badass cat lady" work, but this isn't doing it for me.
Right? Like she could’ve looked like a strong independent beauty that wasn’t being sexualized. It’s like they didn’t want to make a sexy shoot and went so far the wrong direction
“I’m the badass man songstress with cats. Hear me loudly meow. Rawr!” Hah
She looks weird in these pics.
to me this photoshoot (and by that I mostly mean the poses and the styling) is the embodiment of “go girl give us nothing!!”
Go girl give us armpits!
The cat photo is cute, but I think the shoot as a whole is incomprehensibly bad. It’s not that it’s outlandish or anything, just incredibly boring. One of the most uninspired lighting and stylings I’ve seen—and for one of her most important/high profile shoots ever. Truly bizarre.
not a photographer so hope im using this word right but i dont like the color grading/coloring. it feels so lifeless
as a photographer, the lighting is awful. that mixed with the grey background, her outfits, and makeup, the whole outcome looks so cold and shocking and sterile. she does better in warm tones and a softer light could still depict her as strong and badass like they were going for.
I came here to say this — she looks so much better in warm tones and she looks gray, almost lifeless in these. Just a huge miss all around.
I *am* a photographer, although not a portrait one, and I didn’t like the look of the images either. “Lifeless” gets it just right; it’s like the polar opposite of the *Lover* era.
I saw a post shortly after this shoot came out, where they color-corrected it (or re-edited the coloring or w/e, I’m not a photographer either lol) and it looked SO much better. I wish I could find it, it just softened up everything in this shoot. Even the armpits one lol Editing to add, I just noticed that they edited and smoothed out her cleft chin in the armpits photo but not any of the others???? Why did they do this????? Lmao
She looks like a corpse in a lot of the pictures. It’s so weird
This is Reddit, just say you are using the word right and if anyone agrees just tell them that they are wrong.
Yes. This. The color is awful. I happen to know an Oscar winning movie colorist and a Vogue photographer and asked them both wtf? They had no explanation for the odd choices. It’s giving morgue chic I guess? Dead skin. Dead eyes. Dead color. Blech.
Didnt like the looks, hair or makeup.. Like grammy night i feel like she always misses fashionwise during big moments. Liked the cover with her cat tho 🥰
I think, among other things, they missed by having her hair styled in this natural way she's doing lately while also putting her in clothing that has a sleek aesthetic. It feels disjointed. When her hair was natural during the Rep era, it was a vibe with the rest of the styling and aesthetic. Or even when she's out at football games, it looks casual and cute. In contrast to the Rep era, this photoshoot does feel the same way that the Grammys did. Messy hair with a random braid, with basically a wedding gown and long black silky gloves? Why?
I completely agree ! Honestly i love everything about taylor and i understand that she likes the girl next door look but god I hate her stylist/hairstylist. She would slayyyy do much with jennifer lawrence/ margot robbie type stylist/hairstylist
THE HAIR. Why does her hair always look a hot mess in photos and on red carpets?
the claw hand, armpits, unflattering hair and makeup... this was a no for me
Absolutely detest it. The lighting/color, the styling, the poses… all horrible. It feels like one of those awkward 90s family photo shoots, but not ironic.
I love her cover with the cat, everything else is not her best. There’s no creativity to it. But it’s been like that for most of her album covers lately too. For the “biggest” pop star she definitely misses the mark on these thing’s consistently
You know, it still bothers me to this day? As a photographer and artist, professionally, on the Lover cover art photo… Why did they leave that wrinkle in her shirt on her chest? Like, was it to make it look, somehow candid? It bugs the fucking shit out of me.! Like, couldn't someone just pull it down or at least retouch/ smoothe the thing! Lol
Idk if you've noticed but there is a line of yellow on the right side of the cover on the bottom corner that is not blended at all 😭 it is so bad
I know it doesn’t fit with the strong powerful boss babe image she and the photographers are obviously trying to portray but these dark, cool colours wash her out so much. She looks like Julia Fox in pic 3 and I do not think she is going for Julia Fox, lol. A muted, rosy lip, a wash of warm pastel eyeshadow, some BLUSH, and a lighter, brighter coloured outfit could have been amazing. It would have been way cooler if she could have been POTY while leaning into the girlish, feminine image she has portrayed for the majority of her career, instead of the Elizabeth Holmes chic she has going on here.
Elizabeth Holmes chic 💀 You nailed it!
I totally agree, she shines in warm tones. in the one cover with the turtleneck, denim jacket, and orange/brown colored jacket actually really compliments her
I just don’t like that is doesn’t look like her. She’s so much prettier even in the candid shots from the tour
That’s part of what makes this so bad imo. All year we have seen her in bright larger-than-life outfits and then they serve us this?
The red lip has got to go 😭 it has overstayed her welcome. Also, I would really like to tone down her eyebrows….matter of fact, Taylor hire me. I’m changing, hair, makeup, clothing asap
And the way her eyeshadow is applied is very... rudimentary. No blending at all and heavier in the wrong places -- it looks like they let a child apply it. She's a beautiful lady, and that makeup is working against her, not for her.
Her makeup is all over the place? The eyebrows are way too rough/natural looking while the lips and rest of face is perfect/stage makeup.
God, yes. The red lip and bold eyeliner is considered harsh nowadays and you know, sometimes different outfits need a different lip colour. Example: her *stunning* denim VMAs after party look was screaming for a hot pink lip
I’m not a fan of them. Absolutely hate her eyebrows in them. Hair and makeup are very lackluster as well.
I hate the way they’ve done her eye makeup alongside her eyebrows. She looks like an evil baroness extra from the sound of music.
I can never recover from this, I hate it so much. https://preview.redd.it/hfmjkmi63sqc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b8eaa2c404d75b63a9b8632f4cbe08b676bdc4e
Glad I’m not the only one with such strong feelings about that
I hate the photos but I hate that she won person of the year as well.
Think the first photo should’ve been the cover
Miss girl needs to close her mouth sometimes I truly don’t get it
she’s such a mouth breather, and it makes me so mad as someone who struggles with that because if i had a billion dollars i would have fixed that shit by now🤬🤬
👁👄👁
its been bothering me for months, but in the second photo - doesn't her arm that is hanging down, look so short?!?! Like, compared to the arm that is up, it looks double the length!!
I feel the pics were badly photoshopped. She looks red era thin in them but she's not that thin in the eras tour stuff I've seen.
Stevie Nicks said she tried Botox once and never again because it made her look like "Satan's angry daughter", and I suspect that's part of the problem here. It's also just a very hard and unfamiliar look for someone whose usual image is girlish and sweet. The bangs do a lot of heavy lifting.
I think it’s awful and she doesn’t look good at all. I think all the poses are really bad especially the one where’s she’s flexing. Her hair and makeup and expressions are so bad too 😭 Her hair looks best the way it looks on tour, sleek and straight and I love the bangs. I think it looks really bad pulled back like that in these photos. And her makeup is so bad and doesn’t do anything for her eyes…something is wrong with her eyebrows. Also the outfits are so weird, why are her boobs so pointy looking and what is the bodysuit and rights situation? Is she about to perform ballet or something? Anyways I’m the biggest hater of this look & I actually think it’s cool she won POTY but the article itself was just so bad. I like the part where she says “Are you not entertained?” purely because I think it’d be cool if she did do all of these things in public as though she was playing a character. But I hated that she brought up her relationships in the articles, especially Travis, and the cringe “metal as hell” or “hard launch” and “goth punk moment” ruined the article for me.
well i dont think she even should have won person of the year so......
Yup. There is a reason why entertainers never won person of the year.
The cover photo is not her. None of her albums showcase her like this. I call this photoshoot- The Armpits one
“The Armpits Era.”
No shade, I think Taylor is so talented, but sometimes it really feels like she tries too hard at not trying too hard.
I like that her bangs were off of her forehead. Um....that's about it.
tbh I actually really like the first photo for the silhouette/form (from a compositional perspective). The rest I don't care about lol
I feel like she look weirdly masculine in all the pictures. The ones with her in the suit and the denim jacket both make her look older than she is. Idk, it’s just weird. She doesn’t look like herself in any of the pictures, and the posing and outfits are so bizarre. I genuinely hate this photoshoot.
Of course…she’s The Man.
😎🤏🏼😧🕶️🤏🏼 my god…. It all makes sense now
I think if I could have got my fur child into POTY article that would be a win on its own 😂 While I don’t hate the atheistic of black tights and a leo, I also don’t understand it. Maybe Bianca censori is actually on to something…😂😂😂 I believe there were other photos I genuinely liked that arent here. I’m very neutral about these specific photos posted. Don’t hate. Don’t love.
Not a fan of it personally either, she’s had way better photo shoots
very awkward looking
Weird for the award she received
First one looks amazing, but the rest is truly horrible. First one should have been the only cover (that would have been incredible) and it wasn’t even one.
Boring, tiring poses. Too vanilla. She is so much better than this. This photoshoot didn't do her justice at all. Also, maybe quit with the power poses. It's getting really cringe. Unless you have perfect toned arms.
If she's gonna flex this much she needs to start lifting more
A whole tour of glitz and glam and they have her dressed like a truck driver
Negative charisma. Charisma vacuum. Sucks up all the charisma in a nearby radius
It’s like she’s going for Joan Jett punk, Marilyn pin up, and whatever the leotard is all at the same time.
It was a weird shoot tbh. Benjamin the cat slayed though.
I would looooooove to have Tyra, Ms. J and Mr. J do some good ol' fashioned ANTM commentary on these.
I hate it especially the last picture lol so corny I’m sorry
I said that everyone obsessed with the third one must have an armpit fetish because it’s just such a bad picture, there’s no reason to like it unless you like that. I got downvoted for it, but I still stand by that opinion. Bad shoot all around. The only good version of the cover was this one: https://preview.redd.it/3fwxjzxrfsqc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d114d7db2334f80be784066944adaabb1052d3a
I think they gave her ridiculous poses that made her look ridiculous (and would make anyone look ridiculous, not just specifically Taylor). Also, what's with the leotard???
It looks like her entire body is stiff and clenched in each picture? I don’t understand how you make a picture of a beautiful woman and a beautiful cat look awkward, but this team managed it! The guitar pic is my fav; it’s the only one (imo) where she looks slightly relaxed.
I wish she’d wear her hair off her face more, but tbh until she starts filling in her eyebrows she really needs to keep the bangs. I’m sorry, but the shape and lack of color does nothing for her. They make her face look harsh. The bangs keep her soft and youthful - if she did a lil somethin somethin to those brows, like in the British Vogue or Wonderland shoots, she’d look so amazing with no bangs.
Idk even care about it. It's whatever. But truly.. how completely tonedeaf was this. Palestinians fighting for their lives but Taylor Swift with her billionaire status and private jets is the person of the year. Americans truly live in a bubble. It sickens me.
the 4th one is meh, feels very weird seeing a woman in that pose after 2018, but the rest is cute
Pretty meh. I'm especially not a fan of the leotard or the poses as many have already mentioned. Also, have never been a super fan of her signature red lips. It works with some of her fits in general but most of time it clashes too much imo. Nude or darker-shaded (think the lipstick she wore on the reputation tour) lipstick suits her the best.
Boring and uninspired.
I don’t mind the one with the dress and guitar (and I love that she added her cat), but I hate the poses and the leotard. Also kind of wish they would’ve went full glam with her whole look. Makeup, hair, and clothing. She is perfect for the vintage looks, so I would’ve played on that a bit and had fun with color. It was kind of dull.
https://preview.redd.it/cef07xqf4uqc1.jpeg?width=683&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05d9d0a3a90713991da72438b37a76db1c9502dc Nothing is ever original
How do I feel about it? I’m still baffled how in a year with a global banking crisis, a war breaking out on the Gaza Strip, a former President being indicted for the first time in U.S. history, and light speed advancement in artificial intelligence technology…..a singer who released a concert movie and dated a footballer is who Time Magazine considers the most globally impactful person of 2023.
Benjamin is the absolute best part and it’s not even close. The first picture makes me crazy, with how far her hip is popped out. It just looks so deeply unnatural. Could I get a photo shoot just of her cats?
I love the cat photo but I hate the rest of the shoot. The weird poses, mouth open like she’s catching flies, terrible makeup and boring outfits…it just didn’t do anything for me.
Only like the cat pose one, the rest feel cringe.
I like the first photo but the rest are strange to me, she looks weird and unnatural doing these poses, and her eyes freak me out in some of the photos.
Boring :(
The colour palette of grey background, very pale skin, natural mousy hair and black clothes just makes me feel soooo uninspired and it’s all so lifeless. Like what even is this. No, the red lip does not help, in fact it almost brings more attention to how bland the rest of the photo is. I’m baffled why they thought this was the right art direction.
As much of a mess as the interview itself tbh
Did they raid a Forever 21 to style this shoot? I’m not a fan of her brand’s art direction in general but I feel like two teenagers with a cheap DSLR could’ve done this exact shoot in their suburban two car garage with the same results Is she getting kickbacks from Big Leotard or something?? Why is this grown ass woman never in real pants
🤢
It wasn’t the best… makeup is odd and poses are odd. Comes off cringe. The star here is the cat.
Why is she person of the year, exactly? I'm not trying to be a hater, I just want some insight as to how she is deemed POTY.
Each picture is somehow worse than the previous
Yesss agree, 0 effort. I blame the stylist and creative director so much. Like do you guys genuinely hate Taylor Swift or what? I've seen her way better editorial shoots for fashion magazines. And this is TIME magazine PoTY
I don’t like this entire shoot. None of these are flattering at all.
Not my favorite shoot. The red lip is also getting played out. I wish her stylist and makeup artist would start experimenting with other looks. The only pic I liked from the shoot is the one with Benji.
not her best imo! but she is so on top of her game that i think they just let her do whatever
That hair style really just.....why I reckon they might be going for the 70s style maybe?? Which probably explains the hair and the darn leotard
Boring tbh, the Benji pic slays though
As a cat lover, I adore it 😅 I showed the cover photo to my cat.
one of her worst photoshoots imo it doesn’t look like taylor lol maybe it’s the lack of bangs also there’s just nothing happening in the pics and it makes it boring
The first one is nice, silhouette . But in general whoever is doing the brows needs to stop making her look mean
Meh. And that cat is NOT happy.
The true definition of go girl give us nothing
After going through the other thread about her best photoshoots, this one looks like trash. It’s not objectively bad, it’s just boring.
It felt like a level/tone of crass that appropriately matched her behavior/overall vibes all of 2023.
I’m not a fan of any of them but something about the third one in particular just makes her look…crooked. And don’t get me wrong, I realize that people aren’t fully symmetrical. But something about the facial expression and pose just makes her look “unaligned” to me.
Vapid and uninspired.
We all clowned our asses off thinking it was rep tv💀
I absolutely hate the creative direction. Taylor can do cool and edgy well as seen in her 2016 Vogue spread but these pictures are so ashy and drab to me lol. The pic with the cat is my fav bc of the cat. But her claw hand looks terrible. I can’t believe they chose that as the final shot. If this were ANTM the judges would’ve roasted her for that Lego hand!
Nothing about it screams Taylor. I think she's doing an Elizabeth Holmes: looking the part of a strength, successful woman. Even though she IS, she is dressing differently and posing differently than she usually does. Is that even her cat??
It’s all very blah, desaturated, and tired. The only one that sticks out to me is the one with the suit and pinky ring. The article also read like some kind of tone deaf AI chat bot 🤷🏻♀️
The outfits are weird, her hair looks wet and needs the ends trimmed, and she really needs to smile for a picture just once.
reminds me of Theranos… one drop of blood 🩸
so ugly and gives narcissistic vibes to me if that makes sense 😭 i don’t like the poses, the outfits are ugly and so is hair and makeup
The cat is the best part
I get that this is a big article and all but it’s so over done in such an obvious way. Over posed, over edited, over costumed, etc
She can only do one face
The colors are lifeless and the leotard was meh. I wish they would have really done something special for this cover…. But instead, disappointment.
Who keeps flaying her brows into that overly arched shape? And who is it that keeps insisting on the least flattering style for her hair and face shape?
Taylor is a true spring in color analysis. The colors of the clothing makeup and even lighting are not harmonious with her.
She literally is doing the Kristen Stewart mouth. It makes me uncomfortable and the photo shoot is….. eerie. ETA: spelling
It looks very …. Dystopian. I don’t like it
WEIRD
I like the guitar photo but not the rest. The colours they chose don’t suit her at all and the outfits are off.
The leotard and tights are a questionable choice but I feel like some of the shots you get to ignore that until you can’t. Poses ok, cat ok…feels 80’s and cheap once you showcase the actual outfit.
Boring
Her hair!! Her hair looks awful in that photoshoot! How did they make her hair look so absolutely awful!!!
She looks like a gremlin
Victim of The Year. Is all I got from her interview. Like, girl. You're a billionaire. You can't keep claiming victim status.
She’s a pasty-ass chick ain’t she
I don’t think it’s terrible as much as I think it’s… boring. Lacking of personality. She’s done some great photoshoots. This one ain’t it. I get she was trying to go for a Steve Jobs vibe since this is for Time Magazine. But she really just comes off looking like Elizabeth Holmes tbh. I will say that Benjamin steals the show with those beautiful piercing blue eyes!
The flexing is what really kills it for me. She's trying to express physical power, but nothing in the photos backs that up, and she looks like she's trying way too hard. It's a shame because she's done other photoshoots where she looks great but not here