Taylor Swift’s Newest Manicure Is Reclaiming ‘Lover’ With Fresh Meaning

Loving him was red, but her nails were pink — and covered in spangly flecks of champagne-colored glitter. Taylor Swift’s always stayed on the more low-key side with her manicures of choice, but lately, they’ve gone the way of her romance with Travis Kelce. She’s traded out simple crimsons and blacks for loud-and-proud color combinations, exciting finishes, and even newly-trending shapes and techniques. If the Jan. 28 Kansas City Chiefs playoffs victory proved anything, it’s that the music industry icon is getting more and more comfortable wading into new waters. Swift’s long square nails were in the spotlight as she joined her boyfriend’s family on the field to celebrate victory over the Baltimore Ravens. As the couple kissed and canoodled on-camera, football and beauty fans got an up-close look at the glittery manicure wrapped around Kelce.

In the past, Swift almost always either had an oval shape for award shows and red carpets, or wore her short (she’s a self-proclaimed biter) that they didn’t really have one. She’s branched out more in the past month than she has in 17 years of showbiz, transitioning between a sharp stiletto set at the Golden Globes to a neon pink look for girl’s night out, then straight into this glittery number for the big game.

The nails are relatively short by modern standards, but might as well be extra-long on Swift. Her work requires near-constant guitar playing, which is virtually impossible with acrylics or extensions. Interestingly, the always-on-theme Swift chose to go for this pale pink, sparkle-infused shade rather than paint them red to match the Chiefs color scheme — you can’t help but wonder what this look was created for specifically. It could be a photoshoot, a video, or perhaps even an early Valentine’s Day celebration, as was speculated when Swift wore hot pink polish for dinner with Brittany Mahomes just a week earlier.

When Swift performs at her Eras Tour concerts, which resume in Tokyo the first week of February, she paints each fingernail a different color to represent each of her 10 studio albums. The only pink in the whole bunch is for 2019’s Lover, written almost exclusively about then-beau Joe Alwyn. These look as much like Lover nails as anything, seemingly reclaimed for a whole new romance.

Regardless of their meaning, one thing that’s for sure: that square shape is very much on trend. While classics like oval, almond, and stiletto nails will never die, sharp-cornered sets have taken over, and every stylish celebrity is participating. Funnily enough, it coincides with the rise of the “mob wife” aesthetic trend, which leans heavily on Carmela Soprano-approved favorites: fur coast, leopard print, gleaming gold jewelry, and chunky square nails.

There’s no telling if Swift will be able to fly back to the U.S. to catch the Super Bowl in between Tokyo tour dates — it’s a tight turnaround, but Swift Airlines can surely make it — but if she does, expect something totally bold on her nails.