Why 'Showgirl' Became the Dazzling Style of This Year
After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer 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, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where no one falters.