After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where no one falters.
