EXPERT ADVISORY – OCTOBER 2, 2025 – R0113

As “Swifties” count down to midnight on Friday, Oct. 3, Brock University historian Elizabeth Vlossak is reflecting on a burning question shared by millions. 

What will Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, be about?

“We know the titles of all 12 tracks, who wrote and produced them, and Swift has also explained the album explores what it was like ‘behind the scenes’ while she was on The Eras Tour,” the Associate Professor of History says.

Easter eggs about what fans can expect of the album and this new era in Swift’s career may also be found in the storied history and evocative images of ‘the showgirl,’ Vlossak says.

“The showgirl originated in the cabarets and music halls of late 19th- and early 20th-century London and Paris, most famously the Folies Bergère and the Moulin Rouge, and became known for elaborate costumes and risqué performances,” she says.

The American version of the showgirl first emerged on Broadway in the early 20th century, becoming firmly rooted in American popular culture by mid-century.

Hollywood movies in the 1930s and ’40s also began to include elaborate musical numbers featuring showgirls that Vlossak says “could also be the main character: a simple country girl who arrives in the Big City and tries to make it big on Broadway.”  

So why is Swift, who often pokes fun at herself for being more geeky than glamourous, leaning so heavily into the showgirl persona?

Vlossak explains this is not the first time Swift has adopted the showgirl image. What’s notable, however, is that she’s chosen a version reminiscent of the iconic Las Vegas showgirl, a symbol of the glitz and glamour of “Sin City.” 

“The promotional photographs Swift released in connection to the new album are a nod to a very particular era,” Vlossak says. “They conjure up images of the spectacular showgirl revues of the Vegas strip and extravagant, over-the-top costumes, like those created by American designer Bob Mackie, who also dressed celebrities like Cher and Elton John in rhinestones and ostrich feathers.” 

Vlossak says in several of the photographs, Swift is wearing vintage Mackie headpieces that were designed for the Vegas show Jubilee!, which ran from 1981 to 2016. 

“The end of Jubilee! marked the end of large-scale showgirl revues in Vegas,” she says.

Although the Vegas showgirl has now largely disappeared as a form of entertainment, Vlossak says the showgirl has endured as an iconic symbol. 

“Swift is honouring the showgirl — not only for her beauty and poise, but for her artistry, discipline and grit,” Vlossak says. “She might also be asking us to think more critically about what lies beneath the showgirl’s glossy veneer and, by extension, her own life and career.” 

Scholars and professional showgirls themselves have described the stark reality of the lifestyle, characterized by long hours, exhaustion, physical pain, insecurities, exploitation and ageism.

Vlossak wonders if Swift is questioning her own legacy through the lens of the showgirl: while some view the showgirl as a form of female empowerment, critics view it as upholding the patriarchy.

“Is the showgirl a feminist icon? Has she helped improve the lives and, more specifically, the material conditions of other women?” Vlossak asks. “Can Swift, as a showgirl, actually bring about real social and political change or is she purely for entertainment, serving to distract us from the real world?”  

By referencing a vanished artform, Vlossak also questions if Swift is signalling the end of her own showgirl era.

“Will she be retiring this alter ego? Or does she have something else in store for us?”

Brock University Associate Professor of History Elizabeth Vlossak is available for media interviews on this topic.

For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

*Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 289-241-5483

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