After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars 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 theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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 collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
