Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed 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 fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
