After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance 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 grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
