After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus 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 series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
