How 'Showgirl' Transformed into the Glittering Look of the New Year

After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

A Master of Glitz

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Classic Style

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City

The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Transformation

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.