After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing 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 pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
