Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
