After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
