How 'Showgirl Glamour' Became the Dazzling Aesthetic of 2025
Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look 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 on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount 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 favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
