How 'Showgirl' Became the Dazzling Style of This Year
After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
