Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
