🔗 Share this article Why 'Showgirl Glamour' Became the Glittering Look of This Year Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”. Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back. A King of Glitz Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200. “I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.” A Musical Revival It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl. She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans. Pulling from History Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend. But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.” The Coveted Retro Look For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors. “Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.” More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says. The Appeal of Transformation Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours. Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.” Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.