Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
