How 'Showgirl Glamour' Became the Sparkling Look of the New Year

After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.

A King of Sequins

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

The Musical Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas

She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Transformation

Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.