Why 'Showgirl' Became the Glittering Style of the New Year
After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
