After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, 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, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
