How 'Showgirl' Became the Glittering Style of 2025
Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
