Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
