How 'Showgirl' Emerged as the Sparkling Aesthetic of This Year
After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
