Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star 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, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
