Why 'Showgirl Glamour' Emerged as the Dazzling Style of 2025

After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

A Sultan of Glitz

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted 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 explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

The Coveted Retro Style

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 vintage enthusiasts.

“This style evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City

The expert says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.