After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where no one falters.
