🔗 Share this article How 'Showgirl Glamour' Emerged as the Sparkling Look of 2025 After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”. Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back. The Sultan of Glitz Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200. “In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.” A Pop Culture Resurgence It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl. The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans. Pulling from the Past Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend. But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.” A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts. “Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.” A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says. The Allure of Transformation Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours. She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.” Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.