After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
