Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
