Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end 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 glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created 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 private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage 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, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
