Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
