Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
