Why 'Showgirl' Became the Sparkling Style of the New Year
After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one falters.