After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé 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 grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer 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 collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and countless shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
