After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
