Keeping up with the public feuding that regularly plays out between pop star Taylor Swift and a raft of other ridiculously rich and famous people—namely Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Katy Perry—isn’t my idea of fun.
But plenty of Swifties (the cutesie name for Swift’s army of fans) delight in the drama. And now they can show solidarity with their pop idol by donning fashion rings that reflect her ongoing struggles with being so darned enviable.
Let me explain.
Swift debuted a merchandise store last week to coincide with the release of the first song off her forthcoming album, Reputation, the gleefully vengeful “Look What You Made Me Do” (its video is worth a stream, if only to see Swift eating diamonds, à la Kim Kardashian).
The shop includes a few fashion products with snake motifs, including two $60 fashion rings that are currently sold out that depict bedazzled snakes. Swift wears a similar white metal ring in her new video.
Top and above: Taylor Swift Snake ring, $60, from the artist’s new merchandise site; a similar style on her finger in the “Look What You Made Me Do” video
There’s meaning behind the serpentine designs, apparently. And, naturally, it pertains to revenge!
The snake emoji has been used to characterize Swift as a dishonest or slippery person. The superstar first began fielding snake emojis when it was revealed that she cowrote then-boyfriend Calvin Harris’ “This is What You Came For,” but the snake-sending went hyper-viral when Kim Kardashian leaked a recording of Swift agreeing to be mentioned in a Kanye West song, after she claimed she hadn’t.
Kardashian Tweeted: “Wait it’s legit National Snake Day?!?!? They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!” Followed by a string of curly green snake emojis.
But the Swifties co-opted the snake as a symbol of devotion to their pop princess and bequeathed July 17 (the day of Kardashian’s tweet) National Snake Day.
And Swift’s clearly claimed the reptile as a mascot of sorts. Welcome to jewelry retailing, Tay.
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