Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
