After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
