After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut 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 named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
