Why 'Showgirl' Emerged as the Sparkling Look of 2025
After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage 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 performed. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
