How 'Showgirl' Became the Sparkling Style of the New Year
Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.