After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
