Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
