Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
