Why 'Showgirl Glamour' Emerged as the Dazzling Aesthetic of This Year
After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view 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 media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed 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 classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series 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 bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.