Why 'Showgirl' Became the Glittering Look of 2025
After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
