Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance 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 publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, 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 sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress 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 similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount 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 trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
