After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
