Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical 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, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. 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 today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
