Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and young adult 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 semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
