How 'Showgirl Glamour' Became the Glittering Look of 2025

After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

A Master of Glitz

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

A Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Drawing from Tradition

These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Allure of Escape

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs 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 catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.