After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny 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 explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided 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 classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
