After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a recent documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
