It went on to be nominated for six Grammys.
If you’re looking for a girl who can do it all, Miss Taylor Alison Swift is your gal. Between writing Grammy-winning music, belting out hit songs in front of 90,000 screaming fans, and being a godmother to some very famous celebrity kids, there’s nothing she can’t do. And that apparently includes doing her own glam, too.
On Wednesday, during her Eras Tour show in Hamburg, Germany, Swift celebrated the four-year anniversary of her Folklore album and revealed that she actually had to get crafty when working on the project during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the lockdown, Swift had to collaborate with her producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dressner over the phone.
“I started making Folklore about two days into the pandemic,” she explained to the audience during the Folklore part of the concert, which was captured in a fan video. During this portion of the performance, Swift performs with a guitar in front of the “Folklore House” set piece. “It was just, like, such a challenge for us as creators, but it was so fulfilling.”
For the album cover, Swift was on her own during the photoshoot, which meant no glam team or studio backdrops. The pop star recalled doing her own hair and makeup and borrowing a friend's backyard. She even handled her own costumes, ordering nightgowns online.
"Then came time to take some pictures for the album," she remembered. "You can't have hair and makeup, you can't have wardrobe, you have to just do it yourself. So I called my friend who has some woods behind her house and was like, 'Can I take some pictures in your forest?' And she said, 'Yes.'"
"I ordered all these nightgowns online and brought them, and then did my own hair and makeup," she continued. "Just was like, 'Guess I'll braid it? I don't know.'"
She ended up going with two low, braided space buns, and the cover art was captured by photographer Beth Garrabrant. The album dropped on July 24, 2020, and later that year, the singer surprised fans with its sister album, Evermore. That album cover, also lensed by Garrabrant, had a similar aesthetic and featured Swift in a plaid jacket with one French braid cascading down her back.
All's well that ends well, because Folklore was nominated for six Grammy awards that year and took home Album of the Year.