Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing 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 theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
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. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
