After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
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 surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
