How 'Showgirl Glamour' Became the Dazzling Look of the New Year
After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
