Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
