After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her 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 lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
