🔗 Share this article How 'Showgirl Glamour' Transformed into the Glittering Look of 2025 Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”. Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back. The Master of Sparkle Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200. “I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.” The Pop Culture Revival It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl. The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans. Drawing from History Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend. But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.” A Highly Sought-After Classic Style For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, 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 collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors. “The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.” A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says. An Allure of Transformation The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours. Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.” Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.