Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering 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 enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
