How 'Showgirl' Became the Glittering Aesthetic of the New Year
After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre 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 vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled 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 popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
