After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded 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 vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls 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 carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
