After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. 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-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “like 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 steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
