Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
