Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus 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 series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
