Why 'Showgirl' Emerged as the Dazzling Style of This Year
After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.