Why 'Showgirl Glamour' Became the Dazzling Look of the New Year

Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

The Sultan of Glitz

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from Tradition

These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star 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, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City

She says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Allure of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.