After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
