Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
