🔗 Share this article

Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

A Master of Sparkle

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

The Coveted Vintage Style

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.