How 'Showgirl Glamour' Emerged as the Sparkling Style of This Year

Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.

The King of Sequins

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, 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, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

The Coveted Retro Style

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.

“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas

She says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Transformation

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.