🔗 Share this article How 'Showgirl Glamour' Emerged as the Dazzling Look of This Year Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”. Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback. The King of Sequins Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200. “In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.” A Mainstream Revival It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered 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 references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans. Drawing from History Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier. But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.” A Highly Sought-After Classic Style For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts. “Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.” A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says. An Allure of Illusion Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something the singer references in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours. She explains her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.” It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.