Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
