Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic 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 earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
