After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny 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 looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan 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 shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure 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. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
