The Life of a Showgirl is Swift's first new album since she bought back the rights to her master recordings from Shamrock Capital. The private equity group acquired them from music executive Scooter Braun, who bought them in 2019 when he acquired Swift's first music label, Big Machine Label Group. That sparked her yearlong quest to re-record her first six albums, releasing them as "Taylor's Version" alongside previously unreleased vault tracks.

Swift officially revealed the cover art the night of her podcast appearance on her fiancé Travis Kelce and his brother's podcast New Heights. The collage-inspired image, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, features her in a silver beaded bra top by AREA and bracelets while partially submerged in water. The artwork contains hues of turquoise and orange, which the singer used to tease this era of her music.