Taylor Swift's Grammys After-Party Outfit Featured a Nod to Joe Alwyn

“I happened upon the phrase lavender haze when I was watching Mad Men,” she said in an Oct. 7 Instagram video. “And I looked it up—because I thought it sounded cool—and it turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the ‘50s where they would just describe being in love. Like, if you were in the lavender haze, then that meant you were in that all-encompassing love glow. And I thought that was really beautiful.”

Taylor went on to note her desire to protect their romance from outside forces while being in the public eye.

“I guess, theoretically, when you’re in the lavender haze, you’ll do anything to stay there and not let people bring you down off that cloud,” Taylor explained. “And I think a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like ‘public figures,’ because we live in the era of social media. And if the world finds out that you’re in love with somebody, they’re going to weigh in on it.”

She added, “Like my relationship for six years, we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff and we just ignore it. And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”