Why 'Showgirl' Transformed into the Glittering Look of This Year

After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

A Master of Sparkle

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City

The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

The Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.