Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view 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 media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. 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 creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
