After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined 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 undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
