How 'Showgirl' Became the Dazzling Look of This Year
Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early 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 simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
