Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift 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 gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
