The Gist
Taylor Swift had a major career milestone, which she celebrated on Instagram on February 23.
On that same day, her song “Opalite” off of her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, became Swift’s latest song to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
To mark the occasion, Swift shared behind-the-scenes clips of the making of the song, including a makeup-free video where she wears a $1,458 cashmere sweater from The Row.
What, exactly, does one wear to celebrate a major career milestone? Well, if you’re Taylor Swift, you go makeup-free and grab a $1,458 seafoam green cashmere sweater from The Row for the big occasion.
On February 23, Swift’s single “Opalite”—from her most recent album The Life of a Showgirl, which dropped last October—hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the second No. 1 off of her latest album following “The Fate of Ophelia.” To mark the occasion, on Monday, Swift shared a behind-the-scenes Instagram carousel of not only the making of the song itself but also its accompanying music video, which was released on February 6. “Opalite” marks Swift’s 14th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Taylor Swift on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’
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“Just a few Opalite memories to celebrate the Hot 100 #1 you guys just got this song!!” Swift began her caption. “I can’t even sum up my excitement and I’m so blown away by the love you’ve shown this song and video. To put this into perspective… This is actually the first time I’ve had two Hot 100 #1s off of one album since my album 1989 came out in 2014, nearly twelve years ago!”
“I know that’s a lot of numbers but it all adds up to me being so thankful to the fans who helped make this happen by welcoming this song into your lives with open arms,” she continued. “Seriously bouncing off the walls about this!! Just wanted to say THANK YOU, might go buy a giant pretzel at the mall to celebrate, iykyk🥨🌵🪨.”
Taylor Swift on October 7, 2025
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In the first clip from the carousel, Swift wears her cashmere sweater from The Row and her hair in her natural blonde curls—what she notably doesn’t wear, though, is makeup. In that snippet, Swift is seen with producer Max Martin in the studio, working on recording “Opalite.” The carousel then goes into Swift on the set of the “Opalite” music video, including wearing a brown wig and 1980s-inspired costumes.
“Never in my life have I felt so myself,” she said in the costume video, adding, “This is actually who I was meant to be.” Per People, Swift herself wrote and directed the visual of the “Opalite” music video, and previously said the idea for the video “crash landed into my imagination” while promoting The Life of a Showgirl on Graham Norton’s talk show in October 2025.
Swift’s most recent No. 1 puts her in a tie for third place for the most Hot 100 leaders ever, Variety reported. She and Rihanna are now tied with 14 career No. 1s; only the Beatles with 20 No. 1s and Mariah Carey with 19 are ahead of them.
Taylor Swift on December 10, 2025
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At least one person will no doubt be especially happy about “Opalite” in particular reaching the top of the charts—Swift’s fiancé Travis Kelce has previously said it’s his favorite track off of The Life of a Showgirl. The song focuses on growth after heartbreak, with Swift explaining in an October 2025 interview with Hits Radio, “When we go through something that doesn’t work out, we oftentimes look at it as this major setback, like we’ve taken a step back.”
“‘Opalite’ is a song about forgiving yourself for having gone through something that didn’t pan out the way you wanted it to,” she added. “It’s giving yourself permission to not have it all figured out or not marry the first person you ever dated.”
Read the original article on InStyle