Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las 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-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear 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 catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
