Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. 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, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, 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. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
