🔗 Share this article Why 'Showgirl' Transformed into the Dazzling Style of 2025 Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”. Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back. A Sultan of Sparkle Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200. “In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.” A Pop Culture Revival It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl. Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans. Drawing from the Past Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend. But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.” The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors. “This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.” More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says. An Appeal of Transformation Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours. She describes her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.” It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.