Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided 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 latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z 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 iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
