Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo 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 Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
