After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle 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 initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.