Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks 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 latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star 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. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed 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 popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
