The Life of a Showgirl: It’s Frightening
Worn On: 10/03/25 // the life of a showgirl
the commentary
The imagery we’ve seen from The Life Of A Showgirl is already so visually arresting and layered. There’s so much to parse in each shot as it stands on its own — but also in what they represent about the body of work as a whole. Each shot we’ve seen thus far seems to capture a woman completely unguarded, unwary, and unbothered by the state she’s in.
I’ve always felt that Taylor’s fashion tells the other half of the story she’s narrating. Her lyrics and music are how it sounds, but her outfits are how it looks. These images - of the shiny, perfect, smoothed artifice of the showgirl fractured apart - are the ones that will be imprinted in our minds when we listen to these songs. They are what we’ll associate its lyrical contents and themes with. It’s at this part of the album rollout process when we’ve been given one half of the puzzle - and I very much look forward to contextualizing these looks against the backdrop of her words that, by her description, will be “vivid, crisp, focused, and completely intentional.”
If Taylor’s other note about the main theme is to be true, that “this album is everything that was going on behind the curtain” during the pomp and glitter of the Eras Tour then I’m fascinated by this particular shot - the cover for the It’s Frightening variant. Contrasted to the dripping jewels of other images in the shoot, Taylor feels the most undone here. Though the Le Vian ring she wears on her right hand is noted as taking “cues from the Art Deco period of design and the flapper style of the 1920s.” The hair is slicked like how it might be styled to prepare for a wig (as seen on the variant It’s Rapturous) and the black garment, a handmade quilted bodysuit by Guild of Hands, is nondescript and almost shape wear-esque (like what one might wear in a dressing room with a robe). But the one undeniable Showgirl accessory? Those pointy, bejeweled Manolos!
My interpretation of the image is Taylor caught in a glaring spotlight — but not on stage. Rather, in the seats of the crowd, climbing over the backs of them to clamber towards the light. A part of me wonders if this is meant to allude to a dynamic with fame and the balance she’s found in cultivating a fulfilling life off-stage while simultaneously achieving incredibly satisfying and world-changing career highs on-stage.
the clothes
*Not available for purchaseFeature Photo by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott