After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
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 classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
