Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon 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 underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
