Why 'Showgirl' Became the Dazzling Aesthetic of 2025
After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography 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 traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Swift references in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
