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

After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

The King of Sparkle

Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”

A Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

An Appeal of Transformation

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.