After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
