After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star 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 classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
