Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, 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.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced 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 modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro 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 bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
