After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing 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 projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
