Why 'Showgirl' Became the Glittering Aesthetic of 2025
After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed 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 younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion 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 practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.