Why 'Showgirl' Emerged as the Glittering Aesthetic of the New Year

Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

A Sultan of Sparkle

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” 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 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

A Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from the Past

Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

A Coveted Classic Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas

She says showgirls are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

The Appeal of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.