How 'Showgirl' Emerged as the Dazzling Look of This Year
Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.