After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.