Music
Fans Think Taylor Swift Teased The Life Of A Showgirl 3 Years Ago
In true Swiftian fashion, the singer seems to have several Easter eggs pointing to her new album.
What if I told you Taylor Swift was a mastermind? On Aug. 12, the singer announced her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, of which she plans to reveal more details about on the Aug. 13 episode of her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast. However, it seems like she’s been giving clues for Showgirl since even before her 11th album came out.
Swift is infamous for planting Easter eggs that hint at upcoming albums and projects months before they ever arrive. She even remarked in a 2021 interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she loves to stretch the limits of her fans’ investigative ways. “Can I hint at something three years in advance?” she asked. “Can I even plan things out that far?”
With The Life of a Showgirl, it seems she’s done exactly that, as Swifties have rediscovered Easter eggs from 2022, which now obviously point to the Showgirl era. Some fans even suspect that she planned to release a showgirl-inspired record as her 11th album, before writing The Tortured Poets Department instead in 2023.
Below, revisit all of the ways that Swift teased The Life of a Showgirl years before it came to fruition.
The “Anti-Hero” Colors
In Swift’s music video for her 2022 hit “Anti-Hero,” her self-sabotaging persona wears a glittery orange romper with mint green stripes and matching boots, plus the bathroom has a similar color scheme. This matches the Showgirl era’s colors perfectly, and could also indicate the conceptual themes of the album.
The “Bejeweled” Costume
As one Swiftie pointed out, Swift sat on the “12” of a giant clock while wearing a showgirl-inspired costume in the “Bejeweled” music video, which came out in October 2022. Swift liked the fan’s post, signaling that she indeed planted this Easter egg intentionally.
Lady Gaga’s “Applause”
Lady Gaga’s 2013 smash hit “Applause” — which Swift has openly praised — was a staple on her Eras Tour preshow playlist. In fact, the song always played right before her countdown, signaling that the show was about to begin. Thanks to a PopCrave post, one fan realized that Swift announced her 12th album on the 12th anniversary of “Applause.”
“Is this just the most insane coincidence or like is she clinically insane?” the fan wrote. Swift liked the post, indicating that either answer may be correct.
Orange On The Eras Tour
Swifties suspected that orange would be the color of Swift’s next era when the Eras Tour kicked off in March 2023, as the dancers walked through an orange door at the end of the show. In addition, one dancer wore an orange jacket during the “Karma” performance, which didn’t represent one of Swift’s albums like all of the other jackets did.
Naturally, Swift ended up writing Tortured Poets in 2023, and that album’s color was white. However, she kept hinting at an orange era through new outfits during the 2024 leg. And sure enough, orange is now the official color of the Showgirl era.
The Infamous “Office” Video
On Oct. 18, 2024, Swift posted a video of her “back at the office,” aka Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, to commemorate the final leg of the Eras Tour. The Instagram clip showed section A12 behind her as the camera pans the venue, which fans have always suspected as a possible Easter egg. Sure enough, Swift announced The Life of a Showgirl on Aug. 12.
