🔗 Share this article Why 'Showgirl' Became the Glittering Style of the New Year After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”. Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival. The Sultan of Sparkle Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted 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 desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.” The Musical Resurgence It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl. She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans. Pulling from History Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier. But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.” A Coveted Classic Look For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 vintage enthusiasts. “The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.” More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas She says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says. An Allure of Illusion The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours. She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress 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 underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.” It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.