How 'Showgirl Glamour' Emerged as the Glittering Aesthetic of the New Year

After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

The Sultan of Glitz

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

The Coveted Retro Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City

The expert says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.

The Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer references in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.