How 'Showgirl' Became the Glittering Look of This Year
Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 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 support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
