After a 31-year 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 crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
