Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. 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 “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
