Kylie Minogue has said the “showgirl life is more than just feathers and dazzle” in response to claims that Taylor Swift has copied her “Showgirl era”.
On Wednesday, pop star Swift unveiled imagery for her forthcoming album, The Life of a Showgirl, which features the 14-time Grammy winner on the cover wearing a burlesque-style diamante leotard. In accompanying images for the album campaign, Swift wears a range of 1920s flapper-style feather headdresses and decadent costumes.
Some fans accused Swift of copying Minogue’s Showgirl era, an aesthetic the Australian pop singer adopted for her greatest hits tour in 2006.
On Thursday, Mingoue shared a series of throwback photos from the tour on Instagram, featuring shots of her dressed in an opulent feather-covered outfit and rhinestone headpiece, captioning the post: “When all your friends start sending you your Showgirl memes!!! Awww.”
Mingoue told followers that the “Showgirl life is ‘a thing’...multi-dimensional, and so much more than feathers and dazzle”.
Seemingly addressing the references to Swift, Mingoue shared “respect and admiration to all my fellow hard working Showgirls”.
In the comments, fans argued that Minogue was “the only and only showgirl”, but others pointed out that the post was not intended to criticise Swift.
“Those labelling this as shade have clearly not been paying attention to the kind of artist (and supportive artist at that) that Kylie is,” wrote one fan.
“If anyone is getting ‘shade’ from this post, you might want to re-read it. Kylie isn’t the kind of lady who would do such a thing,” another added. “It’s a post showing admiration and tribute. It’s an ‘I see you, all you ladies. You’re amazing! Keep doing your thing.’”
The classic showgirl aesthetic comes from the world of burlesque dancing, which has its roots 1920s. Showgirls are often referenced and explored within entertainment, most recently in Pamela Anderson’s 2024 film, The Last Showgirl, about a veteran showgirl reconsidering her future.
Swift, 35, unveiled her forthcoming album during an appearance on New Heights, the podcast her boyfriend Travis Kelce co-hosts with his brother Jason. The singer revealed the album was inspired by her experiences during her worldwide Eras Tour.
Ticket sales for the tour were worth an estimated $2.2bn (£1.6bn) in its nearly two-year run, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time for two years in a row.
Swift said: “This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant. It just comes from like the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life.”
The Life of a Showgirl will be Swift’s first album since she bought back the full rights to her first six albums from investment fund Shamrock Capital.
“All of the music I ever made... now belongs... to me,” she wrote in a digital note shared to her website. “My entire life’s work.”
“To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it. To my fans, you know how important this has been to me – so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released four of my albums, calling them Taylor’s Version,” she added.
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