Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing 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 theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
