Why 'Showgirl' Emerged as the Dazzling Look of This Year
Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls 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 no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
