Why 'Showgirl Glamour' Emerged as the Glittering Style of the New Year

Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

A Sultan of Glitz

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, 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 sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named 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 sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City

She says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.

The Appeal of Transformation

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.