Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z 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 star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
