🔗 Share this article

Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

A Sultan of Sequins

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City

The expert says showgirls are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She explains her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.