Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
