Why 'Showgirl' Transformed into the Glittering Aesthetic of This Year

Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

The King of Sequins

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

The Coveted Retro Style

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City

Chung says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear 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 start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.