🔗 Share this article How 'Showgirl' Became the Sparkling Aesthetic of 2025 After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”. Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back. The King of Glitz Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200. “I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.” The Musical Resurgence It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl. Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans. Drawing from the Past Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier. But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.” A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors. “Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.” More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says. The Appeal of Escape Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours. Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.” Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.