After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
