Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication 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.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained 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.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
