Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
