After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled 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 references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a new docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
