Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded 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, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
