Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. 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 seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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 classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
