Why 'Showgirl Glamour' Emerged as the Dazzling Aesthetic of This Year

Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

The Master of Sparkle

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

A Musical Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Drawing from the Past

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Classic Style

For gen Z and young adult 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 translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas

The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.