How 'Showgirl Glamour' Transformed into the Sparkling Look of This Year

After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

A King of Glitz

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“This style bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City

She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.

An Allure of Transformation

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.