Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
