After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
