After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making 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 global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
