How 'Showgirl' Transformed into the Dazzling Style of the New Year

Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

The King of Glitz

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Classic Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.

“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas

The expert says this figure are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.