Why 'Showgirl' Became the Dazzling Aesthetic of This Year

After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The King of Glitz

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Musical Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Vintage Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas

She says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.

The Allure of Illusion

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.