🔗 Share this article How 'Showgirl Glamour' Emerged as the Sparkling Style of This Year Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”. Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back. The Sultan of Sequins Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200. “I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.” A Pop Culture Revival It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl. She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans. Pulling from Tradition Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend. But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.” The Coveted Vintage Style For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors. “This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.” More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says. An Appeal of Illusion Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours. Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.” It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.