Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer references in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
