Tom Hiddleston’s Infamous Tank Top and the Craziest Sartorial Declarations of Love From Celebrities

Sure, celebrities fall in love just like the rest of us. But unlike the rest of us, they do it in front of the world, with their every appearance together making headlines. Also making headlines? Their appearance itself. Especially when it contains a stylish declaration of love.

For no one was this more true, perhaps, than Tom Hiddleston, who for three paparazzi-filled months last year was one half of Hiddleswift, his heavily documented relationship with Taylor Swift that had many a nonbeliever calling foul. But the skepticism didn’t stop him from publicly declaring his affection for the singer, at one point even infamously donning an “I Heart TS” tank top. And now, in an interview with GQ, he’s finally revealing the backstory behind that now-notorious tank top.

“The truth is, it was the Fourth of July and a public holiday and we were playing a game and I slipped and hurt my back. And I wanted to protect the graze from the sun and said, ‘Does anyone have a T-shirt?’ And one of her friends said, ‘I’ve got this,’” Hiddleston explained to the magazine. “The friend pulled out the ‘I ♥ T.S.’ tank top that Taylor’s friends are contractually obligated to own. And we all laughed about it. It was a joke.”

A joke that quickly snowballed, sure. A joke whose time at the top of the worldwide gossip food chain surprised him? Definitely. “I just, I was surprised. I was just surprised that it got so much attention,” he revealed. “The tank top became an emblem of this thing.”

But Hiddleswift isn’t the only couple whose fashionable declarations of love have taken center stage. In December, Meghan Markle was spotted in Toronto wearing a gold necklace bearing the letters M and H. As the actress still hadn’t spoken publicly about her relationship with Prince Harry, the jewelry, a personalized Maya Brenner Asymmetrical Letter Necklace bearing their initials, kindly stepped in and did all the talking for her. Their sartorial declarations of affection began in earnest a month earlier, however, when Markle and Prince Harry were both spotted wearing matching beaded bracelets. (Because nothing says love like a little well-timed twinning.)

Likewise, Gigi Hadid just can’t stop wearing her love for boyfriend Zayn Malik on her sleeve (or her back or her neck). The model has been spotted many times sporting a Z necklace; she’s also the proud owner of a bomber jacket with both their names on it, as well as a tongue-in-cheek graphic T-shirt reading “UR Not Zayn Malik.”

Back in 2012, Kim Kardashian subtly confirmed her then still-just-rumored relationship with now-husband Kanye West by wearing a pair of gold K and W studs in her ear. David Beckham took it a step further, tattooing wife Victoria’s name on his hand, just one of the many inked tributes to his family covering his famous body.

Then just last week, Selena Gomez was spotted wearing the necklace of her new boyfriend, the Weeknd. But remember, the fashion love can go both ways: When Bella Hadid and the Weeknd were a couple, the model regularly wore a gold-chain ABEL necklace (the Weeknd’s real name is Abel Tesfaye), but following their split, she traded it in for one bearing her own moniker.

Because before you can truly love someone else, you have to learn to love yourself, right?

Related: The Stylish Ring Mandy Moore Is Obsessed With

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